I like you
by Miskui
Summary: “Help! Somebody, something’s wrong!” Her wide saucer eyes unable to comprehend as she screamed. She shook violently trying to clam Sheldon, or was she trying to calm herself? Jenny merily croutched to the side of the scene hoping she was forgotten.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: All characters belong to the 'My Life AAT Robot' crew…Enjoy?

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**Chapter 1: What's it gonna take, to earn a little respect around here?**

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It wasn't a surprise that Jenny didn't like Sheldon too much. After all, who could even bring up the thought of loving someone, or something, as mutant as him? He always covered himself up with his hoody and baggy pants, his uncombed hair left a wild beast on his head, and – Wah?! – were those pimples?! Yeah, Sheldon was definitely placed at the bottom of the food chain when it came to the school social latter. That's how the game is played.

And this is where our story begins, a somewhat average summer's day that started off with the birds chirping. The sun shone brightly in the trees and the crickets had ceased their noise. The grass was a true green and the sky, a true blue. And walking down the sidewalk was no one other than Sheldon. Today was going to be the same as yesterday and tomorrow. First he would try to get to school before Jenny, hold the door open, tell her she's pretty, maybe ask her for help on something that he could really figure out on his own… Yeah, today was going to be just the same. Sheldon looked down at his clock; just double checking the time, then began to jog a little. He was going to be late to hold that door!

As soon as Sheldon got to school he had to wait a little bit outside – waiting – for Jenny. He stood there, going over tests, quizzes, and anything else that the teachers could whip at him today. It didn't really matter, though, he was a strait 'A' student, OK maybe a 'B' last year…oh, no, wait, that was an 'A-', but it should have been a 'B'. Sheldon looked up at the sky and saw Jenny flying down. What compliment should he give her today? "Hello, Jenny. How are you today?" Jenny looked over at Sheldon. What do you do when someone loves you, would do anything for you, and you feel squat for them? He face had slight annoyance and at the same time, a smile. "Fine, Sheldon, just fine."

As usual, Sheldon held the door for her. As usual, he tried so hard to be a gentleman by walking her to class. As usual, Jenny broke the conversation leaving abruptly. As usual, Sheldon felt horrible and grateful at the same time. He knew that she didn't like him. It was a known fact. He, himself, knew that he was never going to get her to actually like him back. But Sheldon didn't care, it didn't matter. Just as long as he could spent some time with her, which was all he wanted.

The day was going just like any other day until lunch came around the corner. Sheldon usually sat with Jenny and Brad as they ate, but today Jenny had something else in mind. Before Sheldon reached the cafeteria Jenny, manipulating Brad by saying Sheldon knew where they would be, they moved up the study in the library.

Coming strait from his locker Sheldon was always up for eating lunch with his 'friends'. He approached the deserted table and confusion filled his head, but he sat down anyways to begin his lunch. High School in general is known for those tiny 'fights', as you would call them, in the cafeteria. Lately Sheldon hadn't had to worry about bullies because of Jenny, she made him feel safe. But Jenny wasn't here today.

Sheldon had already gotten in the lunch line, collected his tray full of food, and then walked over to sit back down at the deserted table. Oh, no, excuse me, there was the kid with the gargantuan braces on the complete other side of the table. Sheldon look down down at his 3 dollar meal then began to actually construct in a way so that it was actually edible. He heard a few kids whisper behind him, and it wasn't like he didn't know what was coming, not like it never happened before. The whispers became chuckles, and Sheldon was trying his best to ignore them by talking to –but there wasn't anyone at the table but him. Even the brace-face left to go see her friends at the other end of the room. Miserable and alone, Sheldon went back to his lunch, not that he even was hungry anymore. But as soon as he redirected his attention – SMACK – Sheldon never felt a worse pain to the back of his head ever before. It felt as if prickling needles were pricking his cranium. And his face hit something soft and gooey.

A hard slap on the back of his head had Sheldon's face smack right into his food. He lifted his face up only slightly so that he could breathe, but no one else could see his face full of lettuce, tomato, mustard, bread, onion (do you know what it is yet?), green peppers, and mayonnaise. He hadn't put the top piece of bread on his sandwich yet, so things stuck easily. Whoever it was that did it was long gone, now he was left to a lunch room of kids mocking him. He decided to leave the room and go to the bathroom as an escape rout. But the joke didn't seem to be over quite yet, as soon as Sheldon put a foot down on the ground to steady himself to get out of the lunch seat, he noticed that the ground beneath him was slippery. Before he could initially react, he found himself sliding backwards onto his back and then finally hitting his head on the tile. He could feel tears burning in his eyes and he sat up as fast as he could, trying his hardest to ignore the laughter around him. With that, he grabbed as many napkins he had on his plate that were somewhat clean, and headed off as fast as he could into the bathroom that was down the hall and to the left. As he got further away from the cafeteria, he could hear the chuckles and giggles fading and he felt at peace as he slowly limped into the boy's bathroom. He decided to not go back to the cafeteria after he cleaned up. Besides, no body would miss him over there in the lunch room, right?

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Up in the lunch room, Jenny and Brad were having a good time talking about nothing and pretending to study for World History. They, and everyone else in the library, could hear the laughter from the cafeteria. Curious, Jenny and Brad stood and raced over to the doors of the library and walked down the stairs to the lunch room. The library was right above the cafeteria, so it wasn't a long walk or anything. Brad smiled in the excitement and turned to the person next to him who was sitting down and eating with his friends. "What happened?" The kid turned around and said, "Some loser just got his head slammed into an open sandwich! Man, you should have seen his face!" He turned back to his friends and they continued to gossip. Another piped up and giggled, "And then – he got up – and randomly slipped on a hotdog wrapper!" With that the entire table burst into tears of laughter. Jenny then looked over at the table they normally sat at. There she saw the open sandwich on a messy tray…and Sheldon was nowhere in sight.

The first thing that hit her was guilt. She should have known better than to leave him there like that. He was the biggest bully target at the school, everybody knew that. _Poor Sheldon, poor Sheldon._ Jenny was now angry. _He can't even take care of himself for half an hour. He needs to get a life because he is gonna be the death of me._ She then turned around and grabbed Brad's wrist. They were going to finish this lunch period happily; she was going to make sure of it.

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Sheldon was finished wiping off the last of the mustard off his nose as he threw the napkin into the trash in the hallway and was on his way to his locker. He remembered that things like this would happen daily, before Jenny came. He remembered coming home one day with a black eye. His grandmother, who he lived with, had poor vision and never noticed a thing. He remembered the countless times asking her it they could move…just move away from the chaos. But he knew that even if they did move, it wouldn't matter. He would just get the same reputation for a punching bag like he did here. Then Jenny came. Things changed then, and he felt it was all for the better. Bullies would leave him alone when he was around her, he had someone to talk to, someone to like, and someone to lo… But there was one problem. He knew what it was, and so do you. Jenny couldn't stand him. If anything, she wanted him to leave her alone for the rest of eternity. Today just proved that he was right. She was tired of him, wanted him to leave her alone. He could respect that.

He continued to walk to his locker as he passed by the library. Jenny looked up to say something to Brad but saw him out of the corner of her eye. She decided she was either going to end this now or later… Now is better. She stood up, interrupting Brad, and walked out of the library. Brad turned to see her following Sheldon down the hall. Not wanting to get involved with what he knew was coming up, he turned back towards his work and began to really study.

"Sheldon," Jenny said, just loud enough for him to hear. He turned and smiled. "Hello Jenny. You look very nice today." Jenny stuttered, now what do you say? "Thanks…" she mumbled, trying to think about how to put what she wanted to say, to refrain herself from really hurting his feelings. Sheldon stood there with a hopeful look on his face, he was always hopeful. "Is there something you need to tell me?" Jenny looked back at him, but the look on her face wasn't the look he was hoping for her to have. "Yes, Sheldon, look, you need to stop this." Sheldon just looked at her, no emotion what-so-ever. "You annoy me so much! You never leave me alone, you never shut up, what do you want?!" She then lowered her voice, trying to gain some control. "No more holding doors, no more compliments, I wish I never met y-" "I love you." There it was. Everything was out in the open. Both parties had their statements floating in the air. An awkward silence filled the air. "You don't have to like me back," he continued, "but you could at least try to be my friend." The bell rang and Sheldon grabbed a book out of his locker and shoved it into his backpack. He zipped up his bag, threw a strap over his right shoulder and began to walk away. Jenny then turned to see him begin to walk away as he shoved past her. Jenny didn't hear him too well, though. She could still hear the way he said it to her. Desperate, sad, and wanting. She knew he had nobody, but she never thought that it could really affect anybody like that. After a thought she saw Brad come out of the library with his and her backpack. Brad handed hers over the Jenny and then asked what had happened. Jenny took her bag then said flatly, "I think, made things worse," she said still in her daze.

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**Author's Note**:

OK, I'm not really exaggerating when I put in Sheldon's cafeteria moment; I actually saw it happen at my school the other day. And I also hope that the horrible beginning doesn't throw you off the story, it will get better, I promise. Sheldon's life is taking a turn for the worse here people, I wonder if Jenny's ever gonna do anything about it. Please Read and Review!


	2. Mourn on Monday

Disclaimer: All characters belong to the 'My Life AAT Robot' crew…

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**Chapter 2: After A long Weekend.**

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Mondays were everybody's worst days. You had to wake up early, get dressed, catch the bus, probably forget something and freak out because there are so many tests that are today. Jenny didn't really get any of that. She and Brad had just spent a really nice weekend together at the movies. Despite Brad's lowering grades due to more quality time than homework time, Jenny found herself liking him. They say that the best of friends can be the best of relationships…or something like that. But that's exactly how the day started. Jenny and Brad took the bus to school, passed by the Crust Cousins and their rude comments, and walked into the school as if nothing ever happened.

Jenny finally had her mind off Sheldon. All Friday they had been purposely avoiding each other (for the fear of saying something so out of line that the other's jaw would drop). Sheldon didn't return any of her calls, and – come to think of it – he wasn't even at school. Jenny, realizing Sheldon's absence, looked around the hallways. She couldn't help the horrible feeling that took her over. She didn't hate him; she just didn't want to be seen in public with him…that's all. Jenny shook her mind of those thoughts and continued walking down the hall as Brad's hand was in hers and he rattled on about some nonsense. Not wanting to be rude, Jenny jumped back into the conversation. "I was wondering, Jenny, if you wanted to come to the football game this weekend." Brad continued, "I invited a couple more friends along, we probably could have a Barbeque or something afterwards." Jenny looked down at their hands, almost guilty, "Sure, sounds great. What time should I be at your place?" It just seemed like a natural thing to meet at Brad's house for everything now. "Uh-mm, around 6:00, sound good?" "Sounds great," Jenny replied, happy that at least she had plans to look forward to.

At the end of the hall, coming through the front doors of the school, Sheldon Lee walked in. People shoved him around, not caring how they treated one of the smartest kids at school, and pushed him aside to get to their friends instead. _Deja vu_, Sheldon thought to himself automatically. Today was going to be just like they were not so long ago, before Jenny came and changed it. She scare them all away, those kids who took his lunch money, pushed him into the lockers to do his homework to get a grade they never would have been able to achieve without him, or that one time when someone actually tripped him into the pencil sharpener (that was a lovely trip to the nurse's office). He shuttered at that last memory, too much blood for him to handle. But he kept walking down those same hallways, as if Thursday never happened. Though, at lunch he probably would enjoy much more in the library that with the rowdy kids down in the lunch room, he decided that would be where he would eat from then on. As soon as he could see strait he looked strait down the hall to see Brad and Jenny heading to their lockers. He never felt his heart sink this low in a long time. _Well,_ he thought to try and comfort himself._ At least she will be happy, right? _But he knew very well that it would get to him, after some time. Sheldon almost felt something drip down his left cheek. Quickly, he rushed over to his locker, opened it, and tried to pull himself together.

It wasn't that Jenny was getting emotionally attached to Brad. No, that was expected. It was the fact that he literally had no one now. He had no one to talk to, no one to share a new useless invention with, and no one to get away from the world with. She was really gone. "Brit and Tiff were right," he told himself, not even trying to cover for anything or anyone. "She never really had anything for me. She thought – she thought she could fix me. I'm a nerd, techy and damaged, that's the only reason she stuck around. And when she found out I was too broken to be fixed…" Sheldon stopped; he needed to catch a breath. "She left." The bell rang, and Sheldon jumped at the sudden sound, bagging his already abused head against the top of his locker. Seeing stars, Sheldon tried to close his locker as fast as he could to get to class, but he was stopped as a hand grabbed the locker door. "Hey, Sheldon. Where'd the metal girl go?" Sheldon looked up, he knew he wasn't going to like what he saw, but what choice did he really have? It was John, not the over-popular thug, but the same John Sheldon knew from Elementary school that seemed to love Sheldon's homework more than his personality. "Aw, he's so cute." Another boy that Sheldon was not familiar with took a step forward. They both seemed to tower over him, making Sheldon's heart rate skip a few beats with fear. "I – I have to – get to class." The tears didn't even give warning this time; they began to flow down his cheeks. He knew what fait had in store for him. "Why don't we help our old friend, Sheldon? What do you say, Mitch?" John asked looking over his shoulder at the other towering teen. Sheldon began to back up, hoping that they would somehow feel the need to get to class on time and leave him alone. As soon as he took a step beck John stepped down on Sheldon's shoe, pressing hard, insuring that the boy would not go anywhere anytime soon. "Yeah, help out," Mitch agreed much to fast. "Hey," John started again. "In your absence, I've been doing my own homework…you have a lot of make-up work to do, Sheldon, starting with my English paper on Shakespeare." Sheldon looked up at their faces. Maybe he could get himself out of this; that would show Jenny. "No, I'm tired of you telling me what to do!" He yelled, trying his best to be brave. He could feel eyes on him as people stopped in the hallways to watch the fight. "Fight, fight!" Some of them began to chant. John didn't seem to be impressed, neither did Mitch. _I guess I'm doing three peoples' homework assignments tonight_, Sheldon thought as he realized how much trouble he had gotten himself into.

Having nothing to guard himself with, Sheldon began to try and yank his leg loose; a sharp pain in the stomach greeted him. Sheldon gave a tiny wince at the extreme pain in his abdomen. As he bent further down to relieve the pain, another fist greeted his right eye and slid into his nose. Though Sheldon could not see his face, he knew the liquid dripping down his face wasn't tears or water. Another punch nailed him so hard in the jaw, he fell to the ground. Tears and blood dripped down Sheldon's face as he desperately tried to get up. He desperately looked around the hall to see someone who would try to get them off of him, one person in particular. He could barely hear the cheering of the ignorant bystanders that surrounded him. His attention was focused on Mitch and John, who were now on top of him. He was numb to the pain now, so the extra fists didn't make any difference, they were just for the pleasures of Mitch and John. Then he saw her, Jenny, starring right back at him, watching the scene take place. Sheldon watched her for a good minute, and then as he was pounded in the jaw again, looked back up at the ceiling in pain. Another tear trickled down his eye, but it wasn't caused by pain.

Brit and Tiff, who just happened to be walking down the hall towards their class, saw the scene as well. The both looked around the hall at first, looking for a 'tell' on how things had gotten started. Both pairs of the Crust Cousin's eyes met Jenny, who stood there motionlessly watching as well. Tiff looked at Jenny in disgust, while tears came to Brit's eyes as she turned back towards the fight. It was barbaric what the boys were doing to Sheldon, and even the Crusts noticed it (meaning it must have been pretty bad). But no one did anything, no one ever did. The second bell rang, and everyone scrambled to class, Jenny tried to forget she even saw the fight. Sheldon, however, was stuffed into his own locker, left to bleed all over his books. He heard everyone running off to class; he didn't even bother to call for help like any other loser would. He just sat there hoping someone would notice that the unnoticeable was gone…

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Sheldon had expected to be at school overnight, maybe he could starve himself or something, and he almost chuckled at his outrageous thoughts. "What's your locker combination?" At first Sheldon thought that there was just another conversation between some people outside his locker, but then he saw two midnight black eyes shining through the thin window-like rigs on the front of his locker. "24-32-18," He said, unsure of the reason quite yet, but hope still lingered in his mind. The girl opened the locker to find Sheldon crunched up and looking like he had just been regurgitated by some animal. Sheldon looked back up again, it was Brit. Of all the people he thought would come to rescue him, Brit was one of the last on his list. She looked him over; he could see the pity in her eyes. "I can take you to the nurse," she offered._ What the hell am I doing?_ She thought immediately after her proposal._ What is everybody going to think when _I _show up in the nurse's office with _him But it didn't really matter; Sheldon stepped out of the locker, thanked her for the offer but then said that he could make it there fine on his own. It was almost heartbreaking to watch Sheldon limp down the hall, the wrong way, to get to the nurse's office. "Sheldon," Brit called, hesitating at first. Sheldon turned slightly, not even looking her in the eyes. _What is he looking at?_ Brit thought, then she realized Sheldon's real situation. She was one of the most popular kids at school; he was, actually, the lowest. Sheldon didn't want to look her in the eye, he didn't want to talk to her, and he didn't want to get on her bad side – after all, gossiping was one of her specialties. "You're going the wrong way," she finished. Sheldon looked down the hall, then down the other hall. He didn't really see the difference between the two different hallways, his vision was badly blurred. Sheldon fully turned around to begin to walk the other way, but Brit grabbed his arm. "Let me help you, there," Brit asked politely, but Sheldon couldn't help but feel suspicious about her kind actions. "Give me three reasons why _you_ would help _me_." Sheldon looked over her shoulder, but focused on nothing but his thoughts.

Brit stuttered. Why was she helping this hopeless social reject? "I –," she started, "I saw the whole thing, Sheldon. It was wrong, and for me to see something is wrong…it has to be pretty bad. _That_ was bad. Can't you just believe that I am doing something out of the goodness of my heart?" "No." Sheldon replied much too quickly. "Fine," she answered, angrily. She grabbed his arm, and began to yank him down the hall. Sheldon winced as she gripped his arm much too tight. As they began walking down the hall Sheldon couldn't help but feel like he was going to be used. Somehow, and in someway, he would be useful to her in the future and this event was supposed insure his trust for her. "What do you want?" Sheldon asked as they entered the nurse's office. Brit stopped and turned to face him. For a moment he actually thought that her actions could possibly be honest and true.

"Sheldon," she began again, in her usual tone that she often used with Jenny or Tiff. "Why aren't you hanging around that metal girl, Jenny, anymore?" Sheldon filled himself with rage. "IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! NONE OF THIS IS!" Brit saw the hate and fears in his eyes, she turned her head to look around the office in embarrassment. A couple other sick patients starred back at them, they looked like they were in shock. It was silent for a couple of minutes as Brit turned her head back to him. "Ok, Sheldon…ok," she whispered back. She looked away from him, she shame filling her up. Finally, she tried to look his way again and Sheldon took the opportunity to try and make amends for his earlier actions (personal guilt and maybe to not get an even worse social status than he already had). "I'm sorry," he began very softly. "Just don't say anything bad about her. Please, don't. You can leave now, the nurse will probably just give you a pass…" It was a weird feeling that Brit never experienced before. She had been with many boys before, on dates, talking in hallways, parties, etc… Sheldon was different; she couldn't come up with anything to describe the sad thing. _I've hung around so many people_; she began to ponder_, no body like him, though. Jenny probably doesn't even know what she has – had – here. Most boys at this school are either very cool, act without thinking, or are complete idiots. Sheldon is…a somewhat gentleman, but he's – _she paused to think again what she could call him – _broken. _"…I just want her to be happy." Sheldon finished his short whisper-speech; he leaned in closer to Brit so that only she could hear him. Then he pulled back, satisfied with his answer. Brit looked up into his eyes, which was really weird because she never really felt another person's feelings before (usually it worked even better to just ignore them). She was expecting some sort of pain, or suffering to be in there like they would always describe in the novels teachers assigned in school. But she saw nothing, almost a dead feeling. It almost scared her for a brief moment that she had to quickly look away. The situation couldn't get any more awkward. Here was the most popular, pretty girl in school talking to the nerd who gets beat up for not doing someone else's homework. The nurse entered the room and turned to look at Sheldon. "Oh my Goodness, what happened to you?!" Sheldon looked back at her, and then said loudly, "I tripped."

"No-," Brit began but was cut off by Sheldon's quick hand. "Down the stairs," he excused Brit for interrupting his lie. "I tripped down the stairs." Then Sheldon nodded, smiling. "Yeah, pretty stupid, right? I wasn't looking where I was going." Brit's eyes widened and she looked back at Sheldon. She decided to remain quiet. If Sheldon wasn't going to tell, and he didn't want her to, why should she fight to say anything that wasn't worth saying? The nurse gave Brit a pass and sent her out of the office and kept Sheldon inside to treat his bloody bruises. Brit decided to wait outside the office, the nurse couldn't see her standing there anyways. Sheldon came out 7 minutes later with a large cloth bandaged over his right eyebrow, his arms had eight bandages in total, and he had a large ice pack for his stomach. Brit watched him walk out of the office with his pass as well. She immediately walked up to him as the door to the office closed. "Why did you lie?" She asked him as he walked strait passed her. "If they got in trouble," he said in a troubled tone. "They would take it out on me." Brit looked at him with a twitched eye. "So if you tell then you get beat up and if you don't tell you get beat up." Sheldon shook his head, "Correction, if I tell on them, I get the wind knocked out of me, if I don't tell on them I get beat up." Brit smiled as Sheldon tried to make things sound a lot lighter than they really were. Sheldon held the door open for her as they entered the classroom.

He saw Jenny sitting next to Brad, as usual, and he saw all the other kids starring at him. The room became very silent as the most awkward couple entered the room. Tiff's eyes widened as they both presented similar passes to the teacher and took their seats at opposite ends of the room. As Sheldon clutched the ice bag to his eye, he knew that the week was going to be harder than it had been in a long time. He turned his head slightly to see the Crust cousins arguing as the teacher's back was turned, then took out his books for World History.

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Author's Note:

Well, Sheldon is gonna have to get used to old way again. Let's hope that someone can just turn that around, shall we? The Crust cousin's interest is not temporary. She'll be more involved later, for better or for worse (underlined for reason). Jenny isn't going to end up with Sheldon at the end...sorry to ShelXJen fans out there. I just don't think it will happen. She hates him too much and I think that (in this story) she has to spend a few days getting sick on ketchup and ice cream in order to figure out what she really had. Jenny's gonna figure out what it's like to be human, and Sheldon will find out who he really is supposed to be in the world.

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	3. Tuesday Hurts

Disclaiming: MLAATR

**Chapter 3: Today's Tuesday.**

Sheldon always hated Tuesdays. John and Mitch had officially declared Tuesdays the 'pounding day of the week'. And the thought of Monday had Sheldon even more scared over what they would stir up. The thought of how everyone took their time and sat there and watched – how Jenny sat there and stared him down as he was punched to dirt. But he didn't hate her. He couldn't do that; Jenny never did anything to hurt him, right? Sheldon sat back down on his bed, deciding whether to go to school or not. He knew if he didn't go, the consequences would be worse than just turning in John's homework. Sheldon twitched a few times on his mattress, trying to get up and get the courage to go back to school. He gaze fell upon his backpack. _Brown, with black lining_, Sheldon thought, he couldn't really think at all. He then chuckled in his stupidity and shoved the rest of the remaining homework into the bag and shoved off for school.

As Sheldon approached the High School he felt his back stiffen, his legs turn into rubber, his eyes felt sore as if there were chlorine in them. Sheldon then halted at the steps of the school that led to the main entrance. The same sore feeling from John's punch made it known again, as Sheldon clutched his stomach in pain. "Hey, Sheldon!" It was Brad. Sheldon always disliked him. It was the 'I'm just trying to be myself' attitude that he hated most of all. _Maybe I'm just jealous, _Sheldon thought._ Maybe I'm finally cracking. _Instead of greeting Brad back, Sheldon just smiled sweetly and continued walking into the school, hoping that John and Mitch might have a sudden sick day.

"Hey, look, here comes our stress ball." John chuckled as Sheldon approached with his chlorine shining eyes.

"Aw, he looks sad." Mitch commented, not like he cared.

It happened the way it always did. They punched the homework out of him, punched him again for the 'awful work' he had done, then again for the pleasure of it. Sheldon took it as he always did, and everyone watched as they always did. He held his stomach tightly as John and Mitch left the hallway and towards their classes. A tear ran down one of his eyes as everyone turned their heads back to pity him. _Pity,_ he thought bitterly. _Let's all pity poor, helpless Sheldon for his meaningless life. Why does no one _see_ this is wrong?!_ He tried to straiten himself out. His beautiful bronze eyes were scared with black and blue around the edges and red where the white should be. He unsuccessfully tried to stand up and collapsed into the lockers that lay to his right. He noticed a slight bitterness in his mouth and when he brought his hand up he found himself smearing the thin line of blood, coming from his mouth, all over his chin. It was then when he saw a thin, boney hand being offered to him.

He looked up to see who would ever to anything to help a sorry nothing like him and he saw Brit. She stood there in a golden dress that held a brown waist and accented her gentle hair that floated along her shoulders. A brown Indian necklace draped around her neck and gave the appearance of broad shoulders. Her earrings were also a brownish-leather and had beads at the ends. He looked back down at the giving hand, it held bangles similar to her other jewelry. Sheldon almost smiled at the gesture and everyone noticed the change in his eyes, but it soon faded as he looked down again at the ground. He remembered his place. Sheldon figured he had no business with her and vise versa. "I'm sorry." Sheldon then became confused with himself. _What just happened? Did I just say that? Did I _mean_ to say that?_ He curled himself up with the lockers; his arms against his chest and feet closing them into a sandwich. Brit – feeling the awkward moment – let her hand drop back down to her side and then, with wide eyes, asked. There was a slight silence in the hallways. The quite streak was heard and soon almost half the school went silent to hear the noise-less hallways. Then the whispering began. It was almost nothing at first; then it grew to gossip again. Brit's face was overfilled with confusion. "Wha-"

"I'm sorry!" Sheldon had tears in his tightly closed eyes and brought his arms to his face. He didn't want to cover himself, so the hands only met his chin before he let them relax. He tried to calm himself; he was talking before he even knew what he was saying… "I'm sorry I can never impress anyone. I'm sorry – that I'll never be – what everyone expects the perfect man to be. I'm –" Sheldon looked up at the crowd almost immediately finding Jenny's eyes. "I'm a Stupid-Loser-Stalker-Geek, and I guess that's all I can ever hope to be." He shakily stood, grabbing his bag, and then began his way down the halls. Sheldon knew it was wrong to take it out on Brit, but he also knew that she couldn't possibly be doing it out of the goodness of her heart – if she had one that is. He frowned as the pain couldn't be ignored.

"SHELDON?!" Brit screamed as she skittered down the halls in her high heels. Sheldon turned around; he couldn't stand the feeling of ignoring someone else. Considering he hated the way everyone alienated him, he felt it would be hypocritical if he did the same to Brit. She ran up to him and gripped his arms tightly. Her gaze dropped and she began to scold. "What the hell happened back there? I realize they beat the crap out of you, but what does that have to do with me?" Sheldon only stood, taking the question as rhetorical. "Sheld-" She began again, being interrupted by Sheldon once again. "I don't know why you took such an interest in the 'Sheldon Charity'. Where Sheldon thinks he always needs someone to help him, when he really doesn't. He can take care of himself." The words hurt, deeply. He wanted to take them all back as a familiar streak of pain washed over his chest. Tears began to shine his eyes and soften them.

Brit fidgeted, then began to let go of him and turn away. She felt that some alone time would cure his state of mind. But before she could leave, Sheldon dipped down and wrapped his arms around her. Her eyes grew wide as she then realized they were still in school. She looked around the hall in fear, but then she shakily returned the embrace. The hug was light, yet needy. She could feel he was scared. The way he laced his arms around her waist; he was being careful in case she pushed him away, but also taking what he felt he needed at the same time. He needed someone to lean on, and whether or not he got that at home, he did not have anything at school. _This sucks_. Brit thought, which so was unlike her. _Now I have to feel sorry for him._ Brit felt his weight shift lightly and her negative thoughts drowned. She couldn't help the horrible feeling that ripped itself from her gut. Her stomach and heart ached together as she tightened her grip and fully returned Sheldon's request.Sheldon didn't really expect her to return his hug, but when she did he relaxed. He was around 4 inches taller than her, so he had to bend down in order to nestle his face into the crook of her neck.Tiff, watching from a distance and completely pissed off, stomped over into the nearby classroom. Even though classes didn't start for 15 minutes, Tiff sat herself down in one of the uncomfortable school chairs.

We didn't even go over Jenny's reaction yet (which could be an entire story in itself, but we can wait on that, right?). How could Sheldon possibly get anything more than a glance from one of the most popular, stuck-up girls in school? She only watched as Sheldon received his hug from _Brit_. The site disgusted her. Jenny's eyes narrowed as her first automatic thought came into play. _So, this is the first person he goes to for help? He knew, there was no way he couldn't have known that I hate her. A Crust Cousin. _Jenny lifted her chin in anger, and then she turned to see Brad. Brad was just Brad. Sometimes he understood the complicating things like how to bring her to Nora Wakeman (you should know who that is if ya watch da show) if there's an emergency, and Nora just recently showed him how to charge her just in case if, after some sort of emergency, she needed to be 'rebooted'…or whatever. But Sheldon was different. He always knew what to do in any situation, or if he didn't he could figure a way out. He was always willing to put his life in harms way to help her. In ways that Jenny, usually, didn't even know that it was him helping (you do know what I'm hinting at, right?). A bystander, Jenny gripped Brad's wrist and yanked him away from the scene. The bell would ring soon, anyways.

Brit felt a wet substance trickle down her shoulder. _Are you crying?_ She thought in a worried tone. Sheldon lifted his head to glance at her slightly; then shamefully pulled away. _Did I say that out loud?_ (Yes.)Sheldon realized that he was embarrassing her. It probably wasn't a very good idea to latch onto the most popular girl in school and weep. His head felt so heavy he couldn't even look up.

Author's Note:

Yeah, I know that I used some 'inside jokes' this time. More directed at the people who really, actually watch the show, I hinted mainly at The Silver Shell and a little bit of Jenny's thoughts are based off ShelXJen. Sorry for the shorter chapter. I didn't realize how tiny it was until I conducted 'Word Count'. I guess you could say that there is more ShelXBrit in here…Please R&R!


	4. I Hate Wednesday

I'm Disclaiming The Obvious. (BTW this story starts the end of Tuesday, people!!!)

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**Chapter 4: I Always Hated Wednesdays.  
**

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Brit had not seen Sheldon the rest of that Tuesday. And, not that it surprised her; people began to ask the 'great and almighty Brit' what happened earlier that morning. A master at gossiping, Brit would reply in ways that kept her social status rising – Tiff wasn't exactly going on the social ride with her though. Brit knew that she had angered her cousin, but it didn't really matter, they were always fighting. Tiff and she never really had any emotional attachment, it was always their appearance. Brit sat through all her classes, just thinking about what she could possibly say to Sheldon when they met again…

_What should I say to him? Anything at all? Maybe nothing? Besides, people will talk, and I am so much more valuable than him; people know that…_

Brit frowned, not only at her cluttered and growing thoughts, but that she was going to have to go home sooner or later to face Tiff. This was too much deep thinking. She never did like thinking of her emotions like that. The way cheer can slowly slip into tears, or the way an argument suddenly became a celebration – it confused her. Things could change on a dime; she tried so hard to give her emotions a cold base.

So she could never be hurt, or touched in ways she didn't want to. Being hypocritical was also something Brit hated, which was exactly what she was doing – in some way. She lifted her heavy head off her purple binder (hardly ever used, and probably could be resold), to look at the clock. Could she survive three more minutes? She sat up all the way and leaned back in her chair, then began spinning the white and pink spotted gel pen that was never once used for Health class. She spun the poor pen until she heard the bell scream out freedom, and then she jumped out of her chair, collected her things, and sped out the classroom door. She convinced herself that she only wanted to get home faster, but in the back of her mind she secretly hoped that a certain someone would walk down the hall and see her…

"Grandma, I heard that there's a very nice school up north. Very into technology and is highly recommended by my teachers." Sheldon began, once again proposing to his only guardian and family member. He had wanted to move for so long now. He knew a move was too much for his grandmother, though. To be serious, she was barely qualified to be his guardian at all. But Sheldon wanted her to be. This meant that he still was connected to at least some part of his family – out of the foster home.

Sheldon's parents had divorced long ago and his mother gained full custody of him since he was ten. After that things moved so fast he couldn't even count the days. His mother had gotten into a car crash, along the highway, as she was dunk. This bothered him. Was she drunk because she left the man of her dreams and now had a restraining order? Or because Sheldon was such a failure, something that she usually commented on while she still lived in the house. He was supposed to go over to his father's side, but things got complicated when he moved out of the country, conveniently he might add, the day after the accident. Everyone on Sheldon's mother's side was gone, but the grandmother. And Sheldon loved her as much as he could, but he would give anything to have a guardian who would be able to cook diner, hug him before he goes to sleep… Sheldon frowned. "I'M HOME!" He yelled through the house. Coming out from the kitchen was Sheldon's grandmother.

A stout woman, with wrinkles that ran around her face and loosely held together a being filled with knowledge, smoothed the plate she held dearly in her hand with a dish rag. She was a foot shorter than Sheldon – legally a midget and she welcomed him into the home. Sheldon sat at the table and began to examine the kitchen once again. No matter how many times he entered this room, there were so many memories hidden inside the nooks and crannies of every wall and appliance.

The walls of the kitchen were a cottage white which easily blended with the stained-wood cabinets that contained the plates, cups, groceries, etc… The stove was black and shone like new, the fridge – looking older – was a lighter black with white lining and the sink and countertops were a gorgeous marble that reflected waves of light creating rainbows on the surface. He stared for quite a while at the way the sun shone in a way on the wooden table that made a white streak appear; it seemed to contain its own world.

RIIIING! _Well, the peace didn't last long._ Sheldon thought.

"This is Brit Crust, and I'd like to speak with Sheldon Lee. If you will be so kind…"

_Damn._

Sheldon thought for a quick second then responded as soon as it seemed like her introduction was over. "This is Sheldon." _Now what do I say? Salutations! I'm the nerd who gave you a BIG HUG right in front of everybody so they could talk about you and me ALL DAY! _Sheldon remained quite, hoping that he wouldn't say anything stupid. Brit knew people. If you are major popular, you knew lots of people. The same thing goes if you are major unpopular, except they don't love you. They pick on you.

"Yes, Sheldon, I would just like to say that I'm very grateful to be helping you in your time of need." Sheldon stayed mute. Something in her voice sounded off[don't worry folks, I'm not going OOC on you – at least I'm trying not to. he couldn't place his finger on it. But, to continue the conversation, he accepted the 'Brit behavior' and accepted her 'offering'. "Yeah," he cursed himself for the lame response. He could almost hear Brit smiling over the phone, it made him sick. She didn't care. It hurt so bad, it was someone else who just used him and threw him away, told themselves it was a good dead and when it was over – left. Tears burned his eyes and stained his cheeks. "I was wondering if you could possibly hang out with me and my friends for a while…" _My friends and I…_Sheldon corrected her in his mind, forgetting the rest of what she was saying.

"No, I can't." His voice was in monotone and was barely heard. "What?" Brit had NEVER been shot down before, the situation confused her. "I just have a lot of work to do. I'm sorry." He didn't sound very sorry, but he didn't make up for it. Another tear burned his jaw and joined the rainbow that danced on the countertop.

Brit's plan had been simple. She would make good friends with Sheldon and throw it in the robot girl's face. And there were so many other twisted turns down that rat's maze in Brit's mind that words cannot even describe them. She should have known better, but how could she have? She practically had a different date every week.

Sheldon had never even actually been on a date with anybody. She heard the shaky breath over the phone and concern washed her face without her even noticing. "Are you -" Now what was she going to do, embarrass him even further? "– Alright?" She waited for an answer but all she got was, "I need to finish John's English report on mammals." Then a click echoed through the speaker of the phone telling her that she had, for once, failed at getting a boy to like her.

She couldn't grasp Sheldon's situation. Maybe they were too different; maybe they were not supposed to even try to push anything. Brit laid flat on her fluffy, magenta bed covers (which were changed weekly, as well). She was so curious of who this 'Sheldon character' really was. How come everybody disapproved of him? It didn't make sense. Then again…here Brit was, in her little bubble, unaware of the cruel world around her. And, just a few moments ago, she finally realized that maybe she wasn't as irresistible as she thought she was.

Sheldon decided to get his homework – and John's and Monica's and Mitch's – done. He didn't want Wednesday to be any worse than Tuesday.

THE NEXT DAY: WEDNESDAY

John grabbed Sheldon's body and lifted him off the ground so that they were face to face (yeah, he's that big, if you ever saw 'Attack of the 5 ½ft Geek' on MLAATR). "Where's my report, loser!" He yelled at Sheldon's face, surprisingly not getting any attention. Everyone was probably used to the abuse by now. The fear washed over Sheldon in seconds, first it was that feeling of pressure around his waist as John's hand squeezed his organs to raisins. Then he felt a tiny burning ember inside of him that wanted to scream out, lash back…maybe…run away? But a smile plastered his face and he said in a gleeful tone, "Of course! I have your homework right here. I made sure your rough draft was attached so that you would get the extra credit. I also double checked the spelling this time." John snatched the papers from Sheldon and began to look it over.

It didn't take more than a few seconds for the big ogre to respond. "Huh, I like the way you think, Sheldon." This had happened before; Sheldon got the biggest sensation of déjà vu. This had happened the day he met the girl of his dreams… Jenny. But this time, no one would come to his rescue. And as soon as Sheldon hit that hard sense of reality that he was in a bubble surrounded by these bullies, he realized that no one could help him – but himself.

His morning classes were fine, and he got through them all the same. Brit had been somewhat annoying; Sheldon continuously acted as if Tuesday had not happened. He needed to; he could not get hurt again, not this soon after him and Jenny. Speaking of the devil, where was she? It was lunch already, and for the third day in a row Sheldon was, once again, on his own.

Jenny and Brad were sitting up in the Library again. They were pretending to do important work as the librarians came around, but as soon as they passed both of them went back to their jokes and silliness (I hate that word…silliness, so annoying yet I couldn't think of anything else!). A student ran by, being yelled at by a librarian to slow down, handing out papers to nearby students. She was accompanied by many others who giggled and twirled and ran out the library doors to enter the cafeteria to hand out more.

One boy stopped by Brad and Jenny to give them a sheet. It was to the school dance that was being held on Saturday in the next three weeks. "Wanna go?" Brad asked hesitantly. "I mean as friends, of course."

"…Sure."

No one gave Sheldon one of those little sheets of paper. Why bother? It would only humiliate the teen even further. He just picked up the remaining 85 of his tuna sandwich and threw it away. He wasn't hungry.

Sheldon picked up his backpack and began to walk towards the library. If he was going to have his homework quadrupled, he better get some of it done during lunch. As he entered the library it rang of old times. He looked around and found a seat. He took out the papers John and Mitch had given him to complete, and started. He had already planned things out. By the time John and Mitch graduated high school, Sheldon would be a senior. So he would be years ahead of everyone. He could hear the overly positive attitude taking him over – it was making him sick. To get rid of that feeling he focused on the worksheets in front of him. That is, until he heard an uncontrollable giggle to his right. And there, sitting on the far end of the room, with Brad, was Jenny. They laughed and seemed to be having a ball, as Sheldon drowned himself in books.

Lunch ended will a cold bell ringing in the distance. Sheldon could barely hear it as he lifted his head out of the mountain of books that surrounded him. But when he did Jenny and Brad walked past him as if he were another nobody. He watched Jenny pass him up – their eyes locking for a split of a second. But Jenny couldn't take looking at him. Sheldon was just too broken. He was beyond fixable.

At the end of the day Sheldon ran out of the school as fast as possible to avoid a certain three people who 'needed' his assistance. In doing so he ran into another crowd. "Hey! Watch it, these are my brand new, leather shoes!" Sheldon looked up from the ground that he had fallen on. If anything, Don was a loser. Anyone who was that obsessed with keeping their shoes clean was not of the norm. "Sorry…" Sheldon began but as he looked up he saw Brit. Even her name was bugging him now. He wanted her to just leave him alone, which was the opposite from Brit's point of view. "Sheldon, so good of you to join us. We were just talking about the dance next month. Are you going?" Should he lie? _Yes. No. Yes. Shut Up, Brain! _Sheldon stood there in silence as he fought with himself. "I don't know." He said, hesitating slightly. "Well, we all want to go. Do you think you will have time to join us." She had started walking around the group and put her arm around Sheldon's shoulders, causing him to tense in self defense. _It's better than nothing, take the deal! Just go! When's the last time you got out. No, don't if Jenny finds out – who cares about the robot girl, anyways?_ "Uh, alright," he said unsurely looking at Brit's changing facial expression. She seemed overly confident and happy. He looked away, back at the ground which he suddenly found interesting.

"Well, great. We'll pick you up then. Brit has told us many great things about you." Don leaned in closer, "she better be right." What was he going to do, clean Sheldon to death? Sheldon stood there and smiled. Not his dumb 'I'm dreaming of a better life' smile, but a simple one, his eyes slightly lidded as if challenging. He felt a tug on his other sleeve, it was Brit again.

"Sheldon and I should get going, now. Right, Sheldon." Normally he would have ignored anything Brit had said, but wanting to escape the awkward silence that Don had created, he agreed. "Why can't you just leave me alone? I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with me or my situation." Brit silently followed for the next few minutes, then, as Sheldon began to forget about his questions, she answered. "You're different," she began, catching Sheldon's interest in an instant.

"You're not pushy, not smooth, you're just. I don't know. Every time I come up with something, maybe to humiliate that robot girl, Jenny or something, you snuff it out. You just figure things like that out. You are actually kind in ways that no other guy has been to me, yet stern in ways I can't stand. I want to understand someone like you. You're different…and I like it." Sheldon stopped walking about half way through her speech. He stared at her, trying to figure out if she was really sincere. He couldn't tell and leaned forward a bit, but he couldn't even tell himself why he was, Brit leaned into him slightly and looked up at him. Sheldon, suddenly uncomfortable, stiffened to the loss of space. Brit continued as she wrapped her lithe arms around his neck and was inches away from his face. Blush was beginning to burn Sheldon's cheeks as Brit gently closed the gap between them.

His eyes wide and hands shaking, he allowed her to linger there for a moment, but as she tried to deepen the feeling, he pulled away. Brit seemed disappointed. Why did he have to end a perfect moment? What happened to hormones?! She let her hands drop so that they stopped and cupped Sheldon's neck, then she let them drag to his shoulders and fall to his hands. Sheldon, feeling dumbstruck, felt his hands being held gently. He let go of one and held it up to his mouth, covering it with his wide eyes. He looked at the ground again; you could never get too bored of looking at concrete. "I, oh, um…" Brit smiled at his uncertainty and leaned against his chest. She sighed as Sheldon tried to regain composure. It seemed like forever before Sheldon decided to say anything. "We should get to my house then, uh, because I have a lot of work to do." Brit nodded against him, causing him to shudder. He wanted to pull her off him so badly, but he could not find the will to do so. Finally, he gently rubbed her back with his free hand and she peeled herself off him. Then it struck Sheldon, how the hell did they figure Brit was coming to his house? How was she even going to get back home? He looked back over at Brit who seemed to be beaming much too widely. _I don't have a driver's license! _Sheldon's last thought faded as they entered his house.

He liked the fact that he could finally hold someone's hand, even if it wasn't Jenny's. He didn't yell that he was home, like he usually did. He only guided Brit to his living room (or den, whatever you want to call it, there's a TV in the room) and sat on the couch with his bag on his lap and got ready to do his assignments. It took Brit a minute to realize the situation and began to unload her bag as well. The first page she brought out was from Trigonometry. Her eyes studied the page for a while before she finally took out a pen and began to write down the answers.

"You're in Trig. Honors?!" Sheldon's shock startled Brit as she looked up at him with saucers for eyes. "Yes, is there a problem?" Brit countered his question. Sheldon realized his fault and smiled something lazy, "No, I just didn't think you were in that class as well."

"Yes, well, Tiff isn't exactly doing that great. She doesn't want to get tutoring, says she doesn't need it. I on the other hand know how important it is to prepare for my future." She put a hand to her chest and tightened it into a fist as she arched her back in a heroic manor.

Sheldon smiled, Brit was the first person to come over to his house all this year and last year. And no matter how he felt towards Jenny at the moment – he was glad that it was Brit and not her

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**Author's Notes:**

**1. Sry it took sooooo long to update. 2. I don't think I can finish this story. It's getting stupid for me.  
**

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	5. Thursdays Stink

Disclaimer: All characters belong to MLAATR.

Pre-Authors Note: Wow. I didn't think I'd get this far…

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**Chapter 5: Thursdays Stink. **

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Sheldon woke up the next morning thinking of school, which it typical when it's 5:45 in the morning and you're wondering why your up before the sun. He lazily flopped up and looked around his room, amazed at the simple differences from last week. The 'Wall of Jenny' was gone from his open closet, blueprints were now plastered all over his room – he even had a couple dangling from the ceiling. They were all layouts for a specific project that Sheldon had been planning ever since John first embarrassed him in the cafeteria. He heard a crackling noise; then a blue sheet of paper gently landed on his head. Blue prints are not meant to hang from the ceiling. But Sheldon didn't care, every time he had a new project, or a new invention, he would decorate his room in the different prints to glorify himself. It would just make him feel like he accomplished so much more- RIING.

_Stupid alarm…just…won't_…"Stop!" Sheldon yelled aggravated that his alarm clock had been going off nonstop for the past couple minutes. Finally he turned the black clock over and took out the batteries. After a long awkward silence with himself, Sheldon chuckled. Things were going to get better, he just knew it.

Sheldon finally got up and decided to start doing his morning routine; teeth, face, hair. Afterward he walked back into his room to get dressed and then made his way to the TV room where he had carelessly left his bag from when Brit was over. Stumbling into the room he began to grab the loose sheets of paper that had fallen under the table. He glanced at the clock and saw the time; 6:30. School would be starting in and hour and a half, but since he was walking that limited his time even further. So he snatched all the papers and flung them into his backpack. Sheldon then stumbled out the door forgetting to even make his own lunch. And it wasn't until he actually got to school that he realized he had forgotten the most important things…

"Well, where's our homework, Sheldon?" The voice was all too familiar. Almost automatic, Sheldon reached into his sac and began to pull out the pages – they were all blank. He froze and stared at the empty fill-in-the-blanks, and the uncompleted essay questions. "I – I don't know. I really don't -" he breathed faster and it became almost a pant, he dropped the pages, looking up at the three taller figures before him. His voice began to temple horribly and he began to sweat. "I'm - " but he couldn't finish. "YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU FORGOT TO DO OUR HOMEWORK?" John was furious. "No, I honestly don't know. Please, please, please." Tears shook his already hoarse voice as he began to struggle in the older teen's grasp. "Do you know what you're in for?" Sheldon shook madly, he never forgot to do their homework– not until last night when…

Brit looked over at Sheldon's work pile, "Why do you have so much? Overachiever." Sheldon didn't budge. "No, I'm not." He looked at the pile with a heavy head and then took the first book off the pile to begin to rummage through it. "Hmm. Those guys and that girl isn't it?" Brit's voice was back to the normal popular tone, he didn't like it. "If I were you I would alert the teachers, it's not right to be loaded with somebody else's garbage!" She let a giggle slip through her lips, Sheldon's face grew hot with anger. He stood up – liking the fact that being taller than her gave him at least some sense of power. "Yes? And if you were me you would be beat up every time you enter the building. You would be made fun of for the things you like. You wouldn't be Ms. Popularity 'Oh, look at my pretty clothes!' No! You'd be here, living here. You'd be trying to take care of your grandmother so that you wouldn't have to move into some orphanage in some other town!" He hated this! Every time he turned around it was someone else, something else. Why couldn't he have some time to enjoy the life he had? His shoulders began to relax and he apologized softly.

Yet there she was, still there. She didn't leave. "Thank you…" he started after a while later. "...for not leaving, for the comfort." Brit was still finishing up her Trigonometry, but she never left his side. She was so confusing.

"You feel better? You have that warm fuzzy feeling inside?" Brit gave her famous smirk; only to make him roll his eyes. It didn't matter, someone was listening and, darn it, he wanted to be heard. "Yeah, actually." Brit looked up at him with a curious, doubtful smile. Sheldon knocked off the all the other homework that wasn't his off the table. "Who needs the extra load?" Brit stared at the falling books and papers to the, what it seemed like, brain-dead Sheldon. She nodded and then leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Do you know what the cosine of 72 equals when it's in cotangent?" Not really paying attention, Sheldon gave a quirky stare at her wondering if she was serious. "Just joking along." She said simply as she got of him and pulled out a binder labeled 'Advanced Chemistry'. He could only wonder how they got to be in the same classes as she began obsessing over how her bangs meandered over her temple.

"WELL?" The screaming rang through Sheldon's head, he was getting dizzy and his vertigo was beginning to become a problem. "Please, please, please…" It was all he could say at the moment. He started to cry silently as they began to pin him up against the lockers. _Please, please, please. No, not again. _Sheldon seemed to be lost in his own dimension. Suddenly, it slapped him silly, he realized something he had never even considered before. Before John or anyone else could lift a fist he let out a laughter that came strait from his gut. It was loud and noticeable – people turned. "What's so funny?" Sheldon couldn't have picked a worse time to get a case of the giggles. He tried so hard to stop himself, but he couldn't. He just couldn't.

Even Brit, followed by Tiff and her crowd, stopped to view the display. "You're nothing." Sheldon said between two large chuckles. "'Oh, look at me, my name is Mitch. I'm a big Jackass, and somehow, somehow I get strait A's.' I wonder! I wonder! How do you get those A's Mitch? How about you John? How do you get those A's?" The laugh had faded as he brought up the other teen, and now it was just yelling and kicking. Monica's grip got tighter and John followed her lead as Sheldon began to pry himself off the lockers. He winced in pain. "I think -" Mitch started. Sheldon burst into tears of laughter. That was the funniest thing Sheldon had heard in a long time. Brit wondered if last night was a mistake as Mitch whipped a huge punch into Sheldon's gut. As Mitch made contact with Sheldon's gut, Sheldon lifted off the ground slightly. The other people in the hall flinched, feeling the pain of the blow along with him.

"Ughn…"

…

The laughing was over. Mitch pulled back a shaky hand that was splattered in the saliva Sheldon had spat as a reaction. He shook his hand slightly to get rid of the clear liquid and then stared directly at John. And in that instant John let Sheldon go, Monica followed. Sheldon fell to the floor and coughed a couple times, hard, until he had to beg someone to bring over a garbage can. He spilled what was burning his throat before anyone could respond to his pleas, but no one said anything. "I'll get a nurse," a cheerleader rang up in her skimpy outfit and red pixie cut, breaking the silence. Sheldon sat there gasping for more air as his stomach decided there was more ammo to get out.

John, Monica, and Mitch took a run for it. Everyone decided that there 'might' be enough witnesses to get them in trouble, considering half the school had seen the display. Sheldon finally finished and sat there staring at his breakfast that now decorated the floor. His eyes swollen, he was unable to look up at anyone. There was hesitation but people began moving around, shuffling to get to their classes or trying to get a better view.

There was a click-clack click-clack from down the hall, it was that cheerleader returning with the school nurse and a hall monitor (they're never around when you need them). Brit quietly slipped through the crowd to get over to him as well. "Are you alright? Seemed as if his arm was about to go right through you." He nodded but couldn't talk. Talking required the movement of more muscles in the abdomen. She bent down – minding the lake of slop – and lifted him up. "You mean besides the hole in my stomach?" Her look in return did not seem like she was all that amused. "Oh, my! What happened here? Is everyone alright?" Is today 'worry wart day' because since when do I get attention? Sheldon drifted into his thoughts again, wondering if it was all a dream; everything was too surreal for him to grasp what was actually going on. "Sheldon, what happened?" The nurse, who he had gotten so well acquainted with, bent to his level. "I guess I ate something that didn't agree with my stomach." Sheldon was used to the excuses by now. You just said anything to keep yourself out of trouble. The nurse gave him one of those 'yeah right' looks; raising only one of her eyebrows. "Well then, let's get you into my office then, we can talk there." Sheldon knew exactly what was coming.

The nurse thanked the cheerleader for informing her of the situation at hand and sent her off. Everyone else began to continue their normal routes, the janitor began to clean up the mess, and the hall monitor tried to get at least a few people who would tell him what had actually happened. The stories were quite interesting…

"These guys had him pinned up against the lockers and were really hittin' him hard. It was gross," said a punk.

"I really don't know. I just saw the ending, when he threw up," said a petit, popular dancer.

"I feel sorry for him. There are a couple of guys in this school that are always doin' stuff like that to him," said a nerdy girl.

"He deserved it. He was making fun of them guys really bad," some random background character said.

Not knowing who to believe the hall monitor went into the nurse's office to see how things were coming along. Brit was waiting outside, but as the monitor went in, she snuck in along the wall. Sheldon was sitting on a chair right next to the nurse's desk. She asked him to take off his shirt so she could see if anything was wrong. "Can't you just give me something – like Tums or Advil? I'm really fine." It didn't take Brit long to realize he was trying to do exactly what he had last time. A fight brewed between the two. "Sheldon – how many times have come in because you 'fell down the stairs' or 'ran into a door' or even the classic 'I don't feel good.' And you don't bring yourself in either – it's always someone else forcing you. So tell me, are you going to take off your shirt so I can actually see the real damage or are you going to just cover it up again?"

He was speechless. He thought no one cared, and adults didn't understand. A bully puts you in a bubble; almost like blackmail. If you tell you get beat up, if you don't do what they want they beat you up, if you stand up to them you'll most likely get beat up. In everyway Sheldon felt trapped in a world of bruises and blisters.

Sheldon hesitated, glancing at Brit who then turned beat red. He yanked the shirt over his head to reveal a rainbow of different shades of blue, black, and purple. Some were big and round, and others were small and odd-shaped. Brit's eyes widened to just follow the dot-to-dots of bruises along his bone-thin body. And right in the center of his abdomen, right under his rib cage, was a massive black and blue in the forming. The nurse's eyes turned to saucers. "Uh, ok, let's see…let's just get you some ice or something?" Sheldon nodded and then cuddled up into a bal on the chair – no – he was too skinny for the use of the word 'cuddle'. It was more of a crunching up, a crumpled up form of a human. Brit looked at the floor and then up at the form before her. She ended up leaving the room; waiting outside was better.

"Are you alright?" Brit repeated as Sheldon came out with a small bag of ice and a pass out of gym. "Yes, I'm fine. Shall we go to class?" How could he just brush something like this off? Brit watched as he began to weave into the crowd of the hallways.

"Wait. You're not the least bit worried of getting hurt again? You're not going to tell me what the nurse told you?" Sheldon thought for a moment. "Can I tell you? I mean, can I tell you without it becoming the next hot topic of the school?" A splash of guilt flashed over Brit's face. That was probably the first thing she would have done. "Probably not. But I say, this is just me guessing, that you'll make it there without me help. Half the school saw those jocks' display." Sheldon nodded as if soaking up the information and then began to walk over to his locker, Brit followed….

School ended the way it always had, and Sheldon began to pour the homework into his bag and shove off for home. Only, this time, it was a much smaller load than before. To keep it that way he ran out of the school faster than he ever had before. "Oh, Sheldon," Brit called from the front door. "Can you wait a moment?" Sheldon cautiously took a glance around the campus. No one about to kill him out here. He nodded and waited for her to catch up. She gave her classic Brit smile, where her two front teeth were showing and her smile stretched wide. "What?" He asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"Would you mind, if I come home again with you. I enjoyed yesterday very much." Sheldon thought his first reaction would have been 'no, you can't', but he was shocked when he put himself on auto. Saying, "I would love for you to accompany me home!" _Accompany me home? What, am I some sort of butler?_ Sheldon scolded himself, mentally. But as Brit and Sheldon began to lock hands and start off for Sheldon's house, a few people noticed…they weren't exactly happy either…

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Part of me really likes this story because I cannot wait until I get to write the ending (I already have it all planned out). Another part of me thinks I should give Sheldon a break and save him from the bullies – I think I did a good job of starting that, right? Well, anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter a little bit. Tomorrow will be Friday in 'MLAATR' world. So stay tuned and R+R please (that's the first time I said that, funny huh?).


	6. Forlorn Friday

Prequel Note: I will be posting the countdown for the School Dance Here::: The High School Dance is in 21 days. (in the comic.)

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Chapter 6: Forlorn Friday

* * *

Of all the things that could possibly happen; Sheldon ends up with Brit. If Jenny's teeth were actually human – they would have been ground to the core. She watched as they walked off in the direction of Sheldon's house. And, according to Jenny, Brit was neither smart nor nerdy enough to go out with Sheldon. Brad, also watching the scene and standing next to Jenny in confusion, took a lighter approach and said, "Wow, I guess opposites really do attract!" He began to laugh and joke about how long the actual relationship would last – Jenny was silent.

If she hated him so much, then why did she get this tickly itchy feeling in her belly button bolt? She turned back to Brad and he ceased his laughter, "Oh, come on Jenny. He and Brit could never last! The most popular girl in school going out with the biggest bully target…" That was it.

Jenny had never felt so much guilt in her life – guilt was heavy. It lay across her shoulders, and it didn't matter if she had the strength of a million and seventy men, she slouched. Brad noticed and patted her on the back trying to lighten the load. "You can't possibly think that I created this," she started and watched as Sheldon and Brit looked like they were tiny polly-pocket dolls in the distance. "He really did need me." Silent to Jenny's words Brad took her in his arms, wrapping them around her in embrace.

"Jenny, he's fine. He won't be later – when Brit breaks up with him – but he's fine right now. He actually has someone else besides us." Jenny looked up at her positive friend as she noticed that both Brit and Sheldon were out of sight. "No, just Brit," Jenny tried to remove the oily tears that left streaks on her face. "We literally ditched him, and now he's a punching bag again."

Brad tried to absorb her cold words but he's immature nature got the better of him. "Wanna come over to my house? We can watch a movie or something." Jenny put herself on autopilot and nodded, following Brad to his house; Brit and Sheldon were already in the opposite direction…

"So, you've been to dances before… what are they like?" Sheldon decided to bring up a new subject other than his battle wounds from school. Brit had never considered it – Sheldon had never gone to a dance?! She began to panic. "Are you quite alright? I believe you just asked me what a dance is like!" She burst into giggles not realizing that the old Brit was showing quite clearly. "I've… never had a reason for going." Brit stopped laughing and looked at him seriously. "Are you kidding?" She said in her thickly accented voice. "I -," Sheldon stopped; he really didn't want to answer that. He shook his head simply, looking down as they continued walking.

"Well, usually people go with a date…" Brit began referring to the only boy beside her.

_I wonder how many blocks of sidewalk I can count to before we get to my house. 1, 2, 3…_

"They get dressed up and everything!" She was getting much too excited, worrying Sheldon about the topic he had so suddenly chosen. _5, 6, 7, 8… _"The boy always picks the girl up and when they get there there's music and dancing – slow dancing." _What number was I on? 10? 12? I think this block is number 14._

Brit eyed Sheldon's current state the poor boy looked frustrated and embarrassed. "You were going to go, right?" _16, 17 – what? _"I wasn't planning on it." Brit gave him a playful look that little 4 years olds give there parents when they think they know everything. "I remember you telling Don you were…" What the fudge? Was she toying with his mind or what? Didn't she just ask him if he was going? "I don't remember that."

"I think that happened in Chapter 4, stupid." Yup, that was Brit. "Then why did you ask me?!" Sheldon was so frustrated he could snap a pencil – he was getting ready to pull one out just to relieve the pain. "To see if you were true to your word. Apparently not."

"Well, now tell me _Brit_," the word spat in disgust, "just who am I going to go with? Where am I going to get anything nice? Is it allowed to wear hoodies, just ring me when it is." She smiled as she took his hand, realizing that he hated every moment of it, and dragged him closer. "Me."

The sun was envious to Sheldon's bright face – after all, he was blushing pretty brightly there. "I'll help you find something nice." She might not have realized it, but what she did could not make it look any more like a set-up than it already did. His eyes grew warm and heavy. "Am I a bet or something? Do you get me to go and then you win some prize? Is that all I am?" Brit was surprised at the sudden resentment, she let go of him and thought it over. Feelings, to Brit, were a hard topic to cover. You couldn't really gossip about it, you couldn't really tell someone how you felt if you didn't know yourself, and now she just rammed herself into another hole.

Sheldon was bringing the topic back to their social status'. It was one of Brit's favorite things to toy with. She could get even the biggest of losers to be popular, or even the other way around. But this was a little, teenie, weenie, beanie, smeanie bit different. Actually, it was a lot more different. He was shattered; he didn't exactly know who or what he wanted to be and he didn't know how he, himself, should be treated.

She hesitantly kept walking, hoping he would drop the current subject. "You didn't answer. Is this a no news is good news kind of thing," Sheldon asked as he walked up the porch to his house and let Brit into his home yet again. "Yeah," she replied still in a hazy state. Should she answer the original question; she wasn't sure. "I apologize for my behavior earlier," she couldn't help her old habits of being formal to everyone – even when insulting. "I just, never really thought of what it looked like from another's point of view. My perception was that most everyone saw things my way – the way I see us."

Sheldon's face lit the house, it wasn't a smile. "I don't…I don't understand your point." His blush was just as bad as the beginning of the conversation. He looked away and unpacked his bag just like last time. Brit didn't move and just watched him unload. She smiled at the small hill of books compared to yesterdays Mount Everest of Books. Then it hit her, if he thought he was a bet he was basically saying 'no'. "Did you just say 'no' to me asking you out to the dance?" Sheldon chuckled; Brit noticed it wasn't his happy happy joy joy chuckle either. "Are you angry at me now? Gonna spread some nasty rumors about me?" She shook her head. "Then what do you want?!" Brit didn't move, her bag was getting awfully heavy, though. She hesitated before dropping it onto the floor and nestling herself into the comfortable rug below, while Sheldon sat on the couch staring down at her. "Didn't I already tell you why?"

Sheldon's face grew hot, he felt steamy tears wanting to come out and greet his cheeks again, but he couldn't cry _again_ in front of Brit. But it didn't matter, she saw his face turn a slightly more reddish tint of pale. "I – can't believe you. I just can't. It's too hard to trust someone and then be dumped – then to be dumped so soon." _The Robot Girl,_ Brit thought. She knew exactly who he was referring to. "And then to be treated so nice – being – kind – I – don't – want – to – be hurt – again." His hiccups were lengthening his sentences. Brit sighed, a regretful sigh. "I thought I was helping," she whispered, but the room was so silent that Sheldon heard it anyway.

"I may seem nice now, but people will begin to chatter, make fun, and snicker. You'll want what you had all along; popularity. You'll want people being nice to you; you'll want things given to you on a silver – golden platter! I don't want to b rejected again. Not this soon, anyways." Brit couldn't help but smile at his last sentence – he sounded if he was making an attempt to humor the situation. "Friends," she asked hopefully. Sheldon just looked up at her full of dread. "Yeah, I must have scared them off too."

* * *

Today's: FRIDAY: 

Sheldon walked to school as usual. Last evening was tense; he basically drove off the most popular, preppy girl at school. Not only that, but she was smart, he had learned that. No wonder she could always figure the things Brad, Jenny, and himself were up to. Past tense.

He found his way to his locker, looked around for a while seeing it was safe, and then opened it. Sheldon found himself hanging around, waiting for someone to jump out of nowhere and threaten for money. But found himself just slouching around and doing the night's homework. Maybe, if he got enough done, he would finally have a whole night without homework! The thought of a break made him want to finish faster, but before he could speed up production a shadow cast over him. And just who do you think it was?

"Hey Sheldon, what're you doing? Want to come to the cafeteria with all of us?" Sheldon looked over Don's shoulder, a whole posy? Was he kidding? Sheldon stood up on noodle legs staring at all the excited faces. "Are you screwing with me?" Sheldon asked. It was blunt, but he needed to know and he needed to know Don's reaction to the question in order to make sure the act was genuine.

"Well, Brit suggested it, not me. Personally, I wouldn't want someone as low and unworthy as you to sit next to us in the morning but Brit makes a good point." Sheldon gave the most confused, innocent look anyone could ever give. Don couldn't help but smile at the other teen who looked like a wet dog. "Shed said you were very nice to hang out with the last couple of days and that she would leave our clique if we didn't agree." He said it very fast and very clearly – Sheldon was only welcomed as a guest, not a 'member' or whatever.

Sheldon nodded, seeing three angry pairs of eyes in the background, he packed his things as fast as he could and stood very close to the crowd of 'pops'. As they all entered the cafeteria Sheldon quikly seated himself next to the only girl he knew; Brit. "What have you done?" He asked in a silly tone, pleased, happy, smiling, it was everything Brit had wanted to see in him. "Now you get to hang out with us," she had a pleased look on her face. Her smile was welcoming, as a matter of fact.

Though, his problem with John, Mitch, and Monica were not over. They were the only real reason he went with them – pain meant another trip to the nurse.

Brit, on the other hand, thought he came because of her – because she had insisted that he finally do something fun in his life. She eyed the other girls that were looking Sheldon over. He could actually be considered very attractive. It was the fact that he was different than the other 'smooth' popular guys that made them investigate.

The first thing that they noticed was his freckles. They were dark and stood out from his pale-white skin. His dark, black hair was also prominent and lay lazily all over his head. His hoodie and jeans were much too big for him, but it was obvious that he loved them and wouldn't trade the outfit for anything else.

Immediately getting protective, Brit snatched his hand and began to stroke it. Making sure it was on the table for all to see; she wanted people to know he was taken.

Sheldon became stiff and cautious at Brit's actions while other girls around the table began to whisper. "How about you come over to my place tonight Sheldon? It's the weekend and I was wondering if you would want to come and go looking for something to wear for the dance…" She continued, but began to glance around the table to the other girls who were fixated on the 'holding hands scene'. He was holding hands with Brit – that made him important, right? Sheldon was feeling uncomfortable with all the new unwanted attention…

"Can we talk some other time? I'm feeling a little….shaky," Sheldon asked quietly. "Do you want to answer my question first?" She was being persistent.

"I have to do my homework." Sheldon tried to excuse himself with, once again, homework.

"And doing the rest of your homework is going to take two and a half days?" Brit tried to ply a 'yes' from him, but Sheldon felt like the conversation was on display, he kept silent. "Fine, you're taking the bus to my house then." _Yes, I totally agreed to this._ Sheldon gave her a tired expression, with a smirk, trying to communicate how stubborn she was being.

RIIIIING!

Brit was overjoyed, they were going 'SHOPPING'! How much more fun could it be? Shopping. The word got her excited. Now, obviously they weren't going to look for anything to wear to the dance – which was Sheldon's impression of the night out – but it was just for fun. "Alright," Sheldon was almost excited, is it true? Yes, it was. A grin spread over his face and it brought the mood with it. Sheldon then decided that it was time to go to class; he stood up and released his hand from Brit's. After, he gently put his hands on both her shoulders, from behind, and gently kissed her right cheek.

Barely any contact, Brit froze and became the cafeteria's statue. Most of the girls at the table 'awwwed' and said lots of;

"That is so sweet!"

"How adorable!"

"Why isn't my boyfriend like that?!" An angry cross-country runner slapped the boy sitting next to her on the shoulder.

Brit's smile grew wider – the guy knew how to charm, that was _for sure_. But the girls at the table hadn't seen Sheldon at his worst, Brit wondered if she or even Jenny had. The second bell rang and Brit stood suddenly and jolted in the direction of her classroom. If anything, Sheldon needed someone, or something, as a sheet to cover up the broken boy that lay underneath.

Class had started. Everyone sat in their seats and got ready to 'learn' something. Sheldon always sat behind Jenny, but at the moment, Sheldon only had one thing on his mind. He was going to an outing for the first time in 5 years! He never had felt so excited, EVER.

Everything started off fine. People slowly began to start talking as the teacher began to actually teach and Sheldon sat writing down notes for Monday's quiz. It was then Jenny swung around. "Hey Sheldon!" He remained silent, his face void of emotion as Jenny's filled with life. "Hello, Ms. Jenny Wakeman."

"Sheldon, I'm sorry about what happened this week. I'm sorry I wasn't there - ," she rattled on about all sorts of other things she was sorry about until, "I want to still be friends." Brit, at the first hint of Jenny's voice, wiped her head around to face the conversation in rage. _How dare she!_ Brit thought. _You left him and once it looks like he's finally happy – you change it on him! He already is going out with _ME

Almost embarrassed at how angry she was, she kept listening for more information. "Of course Jenny! Friends it is!" Brit was overwhelmed in anger. Last night he had been so unhappy Jenny had treated him so horribly and now he takes her back as if nothing ever happened. Brit snapped her head to the clock – 5 minutes – school gets out in 5, 4, 3, 2…

Teenagers ran screaming everywhere, it was the weekend! Jenny guided Sheldon out of the room, as to avoid a certain someone. "Sheldon, Brad and I are going to watch a movie tonight, want to come?!" Sheldon was going to automatically agree with anything his old love said but stopped cold as he saw Brit storming to her locker in tears. "I can't I promised Brit that we'd…go…get supplies to work on a new project. The science fair project, it's on the day of the dance, only two hours earlier." Jenny did not seem pleased.

"You know _Sheldon_," he cringed at how his name was spat, "I thought we were _friends_." Jenny then gave him a glare of complete disappointment – he ran to the only person he knew would make him feel better.

"Brit," he begged. He figured she obviously heard the end of the conversation because she was ignoring him. "Brit, she apologized." She turned to face Sheldon. "And those? Those are tears of joy?" Sheldon felt so hurt – was Jenny right? Was Brit just toying with him?

"No, she asked if I could watch a movie with her and Brad tonight," Brit's face gave Sheldon the iciest stare she could give. "And you said yes."

"No, I said 'no'. Then she got angry and left. We're not friends, I don't understand!" Brit completely understood. This was something that just happened. People only want you to hang around people in their groups, people only want things done a certain way – obviously it was the same for robots. But she still didn't smile, not because she was disappointed, but because Sheldon had the same face he gave her when she first opened his locker to free him, so many days ago. She thought of what she was thinking at the time, and wrapped her arms around the other taller teen's neck.

_Broken._

* * *

Author Note: 

Ya know, I was going to create a chapter for everyday of the week until the dance then there would be a few more afterwards – maybe even continue the story based on days – but I want to know if you guys want me to keep it up this way. Personally I like it this way, but now that I'm finishing up the last part of the days on the next chapter I was wondering if it was getting confusing… Just R+R and explain your view, I would appreciate it. Also, that means there's gonna be like; over thirty chapters. Holy crap!!!


	7. Saturdays Sting

Counter: 2 weeks, 6 days left to school dance.

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Chapter 7: Saturday and what it brought.

Sheldon took the bus over to Brit's house – castle. The place was huge! Sheldon found himself starring at the over exaggerated crown molding and the large columns that had vines entwined around them. The plants, gardens, and furniture would make the queen of England jealous. He barely even made it into the mansion before his jaw dropped; Brit noticed and smiled, grabbing his wrist in the process to lead him into her bedroom.

He took everything into account. He noticed even the tiniest of details in the bed-set and the floor. Brit motioned for him to sit on her bed, to start homework so that the rest of the weekend would be free. Sheldon hesitated before taking shaky steps, looking around him, he felt as if he were making the place look dirty or making him look out of place.

He was out of place. Sheldon never felt so unworthy in his life, and he felt unworthy lots of times. Brit pulled him down to sit on the bed. "Feeling alright, my friend?" Her smirk forced a chuckle out of him, "Besides having a heart attack, I think I'll be ok." Brit gave him a laugh that was composed mainly of giggles and put her hand on his shoulder, "We should get the homework out of the way. You should never mix homework with stripes!" Her giggle caused Sheldon to smile, at least he was feeling invited. Then there was a large bang on the door, "Brit! Girl, you better get out here now! What the hell does 'x with a little two above it' mean?" It was Tiff, who was not as intelligent and had more of a punk attitude. "X-squared, you dolt, X multiplied by itself," Brit yelled back.

"Then how the hell am I supposed to solve this?! X is X!" Tiff was not going to give up easily. "And damn, girl, you better not have that geek-nerd in there!"

Wow, Tiff had more colorful language than Sheldon had expected. "Well, my dear cousin," Brit's thick accent highlighted her charm, "I just may have the most wonderful boy at school in my room at this moment. Charming," She leaned onto Sheldon's shoulder. "X-squared equals something, just square root it!"

Silence.

"Uhg," Tiff did not seem very happy that Brit wasn't showing her how to actually solve the Algebra problem, but he was still drifting his mind back to what Brit had told her cousin about him. Did she mean it? He felt awkward. Lifting his hand to capture hers he whispered, "Don't _we_ have homework?" Brit chuckled and then turned to open her bag. There was a low growl from behind Brit's door – Tiff was NOT happy. She looked like she was going to bust an artery, "Brit, girl, you better _WATCH IT_!" Both teens turned towards the elegant door and the steaming Goth that stood behind it. With that, Brit stood up and flattened her dress. She then made her way across the room and gently opened the door to reveal Brit's fuming cousin. "I think, dear cousin, it is you who should 'watch it'. Sheldon is going to be around us now. He will be 'hanging out' with us and our friends at our school. I case you haven't noticed he actually deserves a little attention right now." Tiff stood as a statue at Brit's door, it was silent for a few minutes. "Tiff, you're staring at my boyfriend." That woke Tiff up; Sheldon practically fell off the bed. "Wait until I tell Don and everybody, you'll be just as socially drowned as him!" It was a threat.

"Did you not go to school this morning? He came with us to the cafeteria. I do believe that everyone has met him," Brit countered, "and has enjoyed his company."

"Do they know you two are 'going out?'?" Tiff was grinning widely.

Brit turned to look at the other teen sitting on her bed, looking very uncomfortable. "We – are?" Sheldon felt a lump in his throat, was she serious?! It came out more as a statement than as a question; so Brit, thinking he was agreeing with her, smiled and turned back to her cousin confidently. "Yes, we are." Sheldon felt the biggest sense of happiness that tickled his belly button in a way that he had never felt.

At that moment Brit felt too exposed to talk any further; so she closed the door in her cousin's face. She twirled on her heels to see Sheldon who was slouching over the bed and tried not to stare. "Really," he asked. "Do you really mean that? Cause if you did you just totally screwed yourself, you know? Cause, I'm not like 'Mr. Popular' or anything, but I'd say that you totally made it very difficult for your friends and your cousin" He was back to his old self, showing off how much he knew and said it in a know-it-all way. He didn't know whether he was trying to make Brit feel bad or not... "I thought that's what you thought," she was grounded in her place by the door. Sheldon took in the awkward silence and then he smiled, he couldn't help it. He was beaming so brightly that Brit caught the 'happy vibe'. She looked at her expensive heels and then heard her bed creak lightly. Suddenly she was being flung around the room. Sheldon had jumped off the bed and wrapped his arms around her and spinning in circles. Brit's first reaction was pure shock; then she slowly got used to the tight grip that Sheldon didn't realize he had on her. Trying to pry away somewhat so that she actually had breathing room, she laughed, "Sheldon! Stop! What are you _doing_?" Sheldon slowed down and bumped back against the door with Brit still locked against him.

"It's called a hug!" He squeezed and rocked her again. Brit couldn't help her surprised smile. She pulled out her arms that were being held captive against Sheldon; then draped them around his neck. "Well, is homework time out?"

"No, just temporarily postponed," Sheldon responded.

"Sheldon, you're squeezing me too tight." Brit was trying to breathe and Sheldon let her down. She didn't let go at first and gently let her arms linger around his neck; she was in the moment.

Sheldon wasn't, though, he was too excited to do anything. He twirled again, catching Brit off-guard, and turning it into a sort of old-cheesy dance as he hummed an unknown tune. Da da da doo doo da dada doo! It was strange for Brit to experience something so rough, but she enjoyed every minute of it. She then was spun around by Sheldon's hand, tripped on the furry rug that dominated the floor of the room, and fell onto Sheldon. They both collided into the bed with a – "Will you both knock it off up there?! Some people are trying to get work done! And if ya can't be quite – get a different room!" Brit and Sheldon let out sheers of laughter at the steaming Goth that was only a room over.

"I guess we should finally get some work done," Sheldon announced as Brit began to make herself comfortable.

"Urrrh," Brit gave a whispering complain that turned into a moan of unhappiness.

Sheldon began to unpack his bag as Brit peeled herself off the bed to get over to where her bag was dropped off. He took out the first homework assignment and read the instructions;

1. Use the various mathematical functions as shown in the number models

TODAY'S SATURDAY:

Sheldon woke up in his bed like it was any other Saturday. He stretched out, cleaned up his room, and went down the stairway and into the kitchen to cook breakfast for his grandmother and himself. Omelets were always the easiest and all he had to do was crack a bunch of eggs, scramble them with lots of cheese and other things, and then cook it at 365 degrees on the heating plate. Sheldon's grandmother always woke up a little later than he did, so he wasn't worried…

Half past 8.

Nine.

Half past nine.

Ten.

Half past ten…

Sheldon's grandmother came down into the kitchen. "How are you, hunny?" Sheldon smiled, her ways of greeting were always warm and welcoming even in the coldest and forlorn of times. "I'm fine." Then he quickly added, "I'm going out with a friend today, to the store." Grandma Lee smiled. "Oh really. Now Sheldon, you be careful now -." Are all grandmothers like this? I know mine is. But this story is about Sheldon, not me, so let's continue… "I know Grandma, I will."

"When are you guys going?" Guys? Who said anything about guys?

"We're going out around 12, to get lunch and hang out – stuff." He smiled and handed his grandmother a plate of omelet that came fresh from the pan.

And the time flew by; two hours go by pretty fast. There was a honk outside the Lee residence and Sheldon excused himself from the table, getting ready to go. "Be good!" His grandmother called after him. Was there nothing she could not let go? Brit was in a high-class minivan – haha, right – limousine and opened the door for him. From here all they needed to do was get to the mall.

They began to look and meander through the clothing isle. Sheldon noticed a couple of teens at the far end of the store's long hallway between the isles of junior's wear. He felt dizzy. Something was off. The teenagers got closer – and almost turned completely fuzzy. Sheldon felt his eyes grow wide

The fuzzies grew closer and finally came into veiw – Sheldon was so dazed he barely even concerned over the incident that seemed to tease his eyes. It was Jenny and Brad. Obviously Jenny did not need to buy clothes, Brit and Sheldon both could jump to the conclusion that they were there mainly because of a certain girl's jealously. They walked strait past them both, Jenny mashing into Sheldon's right shoulder as they did so. The Room Spun… "Urrrrrrn…" Sheldon griped his head in pain. "Are you alright?" It was Brit's first reaction to glare at the metal girl who walked, loudly I must say, by. Sheldon waved it off as nothing – wanting to continue so that they could go to lunch later, which he really was enjoying the fantasy of, now.

Things were anything but fine as Brad and Jenny once again happened to bump into both Brit and Sheldon again. "Are you stalking us, metal mouth?" Brit asked in her soft, mocking, heavily accected tone. Jenny scoffed and began to reply; Sheldon and Brad were taking the sidelines to watch the cat fight. Brad, like any uneducated, stupid moron, was trying to create a conversation between Sheldon and himself. "So, what did you guys come here for?" Sheldon, looking rude to Brad, was to fumbled to speak. He knew something wrong was about to happen – what was going to happen was a whole other investigation, though. Suddenly he noticed the shirt in front of him was jumbled. The sheeves were in the wrong places – lopsided – the bottom of the shirt was uneven, and the colors merged in ways that caused a massive mirgain. "What the hell is up with that shirt?" Everyone stopped to look at what Sheldon tried to point out. "Sheldon, this is hardly the time!" Jenny was not helping at all.

Sheldon confussed himself, "Brad, doesn't the structure look funny to you? Off? I – mean, does it look -?"

"No, the structure's fine. Spiffy!" Brad began, but he later realized Sheldon's concern and asked what was wrong.

"You alright, Sheldon?" Jenny sounded slightly concerned and asked soon after; Brit was speechless as she debated taking out her cellphone for 911...

"It's – not?" Sheldon seemed very confused; then struck by shear panic...

_Oh God! Oh God!__ What was that word-thing again? F, A? F – 'f' is for face._"F is for face," he repeated mainly to himself in panic, audibly reminding himself of the steps of procedure he was forced to take…

"He- Hey, Brit how's my smile? How does it look?" Sheldon smiled. His lower lip was further down than it should have been and off to the side, a crooked, misshapen smile covered his face turning the sweet Sheldon into a mutant.

"What the hell!?" Brit panicked, she ripped open her bag and shoved her arm down into it to find her phone – they were in the clothing department damn it!

"F, A – A is for arms -." Sheldon lifted his arms out in front to see if they were steady, but he almost toppled over and became disoriented. Brad caught him, but Sheldon pushed away to hold himself up for the moment. "Uhgm, uh, S-sh, 's' is for speecsssh. Heysh! Ish my spesch slurshed?"

_FAS-_

Brit screamed, "Help! Somebody, something's wrong!" Her wide saucer eyes unable to comprehend as she screamed to the police. She shook violently trying to clam Sheldon – or was she trying to calm herself? Jenny merily croutched to the side of the scene, hoping she was somehow forgotten. The smallest part of her was forcing the rest of her ceruits to completely tangle and twist to the point, Jenny believed, that seemed to be human confusion and regret.

Sheldon thought out loud again, "F, A, S, T is for time-phff. Help-mph! Someboday call a ambulanfff! I'm having a-sh Stro-" Before he could finish Sheldon fell into Jenny's arms, hitting his head hard against her metal stomach causing more trouble than any of them knew. A wound reopened in his scalp and a tear of blood stained Jenny's abdomen.

As Sheldon had the slightest grasp on reality, he felt his muscles begin to flex, tighten, then shrink, and relax randomly all over his body…

* * *

F - A - S - T…

* * *

Black…

* * *

Where am I?

Awaking in the hospital was the last thing Sheldon wanted to do. Certainly, of course, Jenny was not there; Brad was there on her behalf. Sheldon lifted his heavy head trying to see the rest of the room, like all hospital patients theat are brought in unexpectedly. Brit, Brad, Sheldon's grandmother, and Tuck were all there. The only people in his life he had made a special impact on. "Oh, Sheldon," a tired but thankful voice spoke up, his grandmother. A half smile covered Sheldon's face. He could not bare to see her face at a time like this.

"Sheldon, whew, you gave all of us a scare there, pal!" Brad seemed over-dramatically relieved. Sheldon did not buy it.

"I see. I guess Jenny was so upset she left to go change her oil," he responded icily, his voice sharp as tacks.

"Uh – Jenny – she had some important mission – somewh-," Brad began but was cut off by someone who was trying to jump up to see Sheldon.

"I think she feels bad, Sheldon, I really do. But I also think that she is regret right now, and needs some time alone. And then, soon enough she will rise and behold the world -"

"Tuck, we don't even know what you're trying to say," Brad scolded his younger sibling for no reason yet again in his life…

"Really Brad, after all, he was only trying to help," a hand gently stroked Sheldons hair out of his eyes and around his ear. He breathed in the scent of a plume perfume.

"My head -," Sheldon began to lift his hands to check and see if the skull was still connected. The pain was unbearable.

A while had passed. There were many different explinations – over-dramatic ones, and softened ones – none of them Sheldon wanted to hear. "-And then they said they couldn't find what was wrong!" He hated seeing Brit so upset. "They did so many tests! You were out for some time there, pal!" Since when was Brad his 'pal'? "I thought I had lost you." A small, tired voice rang in Sheldon's ear longer than he wanted it to. His grandmother, the only one who had truly looked out for him, uncondisionally... It made his stomatch churn in an uncomfortable way – almost causing nausia. A regular nurse came in to check on Sheldon's fluids and scans. "Oh, good, you are awake. May I ask if I may talk to you privately?" Sheldon nodded and quietly motioned for the people to exit the room. The nurse was silent and then wrapped her arms around her waist in a student fashion – how reasurring. "Hello, my name is Dr. Zefling." Damn, she was the doctor, are you kidding? Pathetic! "We have done a thorough examination of your skull. We found slight bleeding right in your Temporal Lobe – have you hit your head hard there? It seems to appear as an untreated concusion."

_John. Monicca. Mitch._

"It also appeared that there was nothing we could do to reverse the damage."

_Damage?_

"What do you mean by damage?" Sheldon could not grasp the slight anxiety in his voice. He was shaken. Damage? Where? Why? How?

"Well," her voice did not sound reasurring, "we cannot spot the actual source of the problem. We brought in specialists who took CT scans, we had MRIs done – nothing shows the problem."

"SO! WHAT'S SO WRONG WITH ME THAT YOU CAN'T JUST TELL ME?! LET ME KNOW NOW - SO I CAN LIVE WITH IT LATER!"

From outside, the other's heard Sheldon's shaken words. It caused them to shift uncomfortable in the hallway – waiting. Waiting, waiting waiting. Waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. WAITING! The door opened slightly, then a small 'mew-ing' noise came from within the room. The doctor seemed to try and apologize one more time but Sheldon wouldn't have it. "Don't apologize! You don't know what it's like to be here – living this life! I'm gonna die knowing that I made nothing – that I did nothing – that I was nothing! You don't apologize when you don't know what's wrong and quit! You apologize because you don't know what's wrong and you keep trying!" There was a pause and then a small apology from the doctor's lips – she closed the door and walked away. Everyone who waited silently for Sheldon to invite them back in stood in awkward silence.

Sheldon stood up from the bed, wires holding him down, he brought the bed along for the ride to invite everyone back inside. Brit swung the door open. "SHELDON! You sit right bac down in that bed, NOW!" He only chuckled, "It's fine. Today, I'm on morphine." He sure seemed to have recovered much to quickly for someone who was screaming at the doctor only moments ago.

"Are you sure you're alright?" A worried tone of voice entered the room, someone had finally decided to come and show her face.

Brad lept for the chance to settle things out. "Hey, Jen! Sheldon just got through talking with the-."

"I'm fine. Just a minor infection….yeah….just an infection." He had to stick to that excuse, he told himself as he turned to enter the room again, he had no other choice. No one else could know what was wrong; not even Brit. Who knows how fast the horrible news would spread around the school - how long it would take him to screw up again in front of the whole school…


	8. Sunny Sunday

Pre-Author's Note: 2 weeks and 5 days until school dance.

Chapter 8: Sunny Sunday – Five years before today.

Sheldon was still sitting in the hospital bed, only looking out the window into the nothingness that haunted him since birth. He barely heard the creak of the door that indicated that someone was entering his room. He already knew who it was – and he did NOT want to talk to her. Why should he?

Her reflection off of the glass window caused a slight pain 'twing' in his head. He was positive she had set off his first attack. His first seizure. And, God, he hated her for it. Ever since she had left she had caused Sheldon so much stress and pain. Then, as soon as he is finally becoming happy again, she takes it away. SHE TOOK HIS HAPPINESS AWAY! AGAIN!

"I'm sorry," Jenny began, "I'm so very sorry. I saw your pulse increase as we passed. Are you angry?" He didn't need to reply. "They told me what was wrong."

"Nothing is wrong," Sheldon stated simply, upset that his first words to her were a lie.

"They said they couldn't find the problem. And that -"

"See!? I told you – no problems – now go away! You hate me!" There was a long awkward silence. Sheldon just wanted the conversation over with. Why couldn't she just LEAVE?

"I don't hate you Sheldon. I just needed some space," Jenny said in defense, but she knew it was the sorriest reason for leaving a person such as Sheldon.

Sheldon's head turned, Jenny swore the Grim Reaper was looking through his eyes and through her. Trying to burn whatever it was that Jenny was made up of. "Well, the hallway has plenty of space. You and _Brad_," the words weren't spat, but elongated to stress the hatred in each syllable, "can go use it all you effin' want!" She could tell by his body language that he couldn't possibly mean a word of what he had said, but he sure wanted to. His fists gripped the white hospital sheets until his fists were just as pale, his head was lowered slightly and his eyes had risen to meet hers causing a dark glare. The sheets barely gave away any impression that there was a body underneath. Was Sheldon really that underweight? How could she have not noticed before?

"Please go," it wasn't a murmur, but it didn't quite reach a whisper – just loud enough to hear.

"Please, just leave me alone – you hurt me." Jenny had curved her arms around her waist in guilt. She couldn't just let them hang there; it would be much too uncomfortable. A nurse entered the room. "Honey," she began…

"Please…" A hand made its way to Sheldon's forehead, embarrassed that she was still trying to be polite. The tiny whimper stopped the nurse and she held out a hand to pat the teen's shoulder. She felt along the edge and smoothed the rough skin. Suddenly the older 15 year old looked no more that 10 and his sunken in eyes were void of emotion causing a change in attitude. "It's nothing, please go…" Jenny never had heard such a request in her life. If it would help Sheldon for her to leave – she should go.

The nurse turned towards Jenny, "Honey, you probably should leave – and will you send in the boy's grandmother? This is a family matter." Jenny left at her first chance. She despised seeing Sheldon like this.

_Go away! You __**hate**__ me!_

_You hurt me._

_You hurt me._

_**You ha**__**t**__**e**__** me.**_

Her eyes closed tight at the tiny words Sheldon had used – and how much pain they caused her in return. She looked down the hallway and saw a dog, being led by a very tall, handsome, young man. She froze. The man turned and entered Sheldon's room, followed by Sheldon's informed grandmother. She watched through the glass at how they talked. She could have heard them if she wanted to. But she stopped herself short by reminding herself that sometimes your listening will get you into trouble. Jenny sat there with Brad, with Brit, in the hall, and no one else. "I just truly don't understand." Brit sounded broken hearted. Jenny and Brad could not help but look at the crushed Crust. So used to the hard exterior – no ont could have expected the soft inner core.

The man who had walked into the room was leaving – the dog stayed. Immediately Brit stood up – alert. "Service dog! He was just given a service dog. What's wrong with him!?" It didn't come out as a question, only panic shredded her words to pieces. The man turned around and said simply, "A service dog for now. He may not need the dog later. Maybe. I am not the one to be telling you what is wrong with him. That is his job. You may go in now, if you'd like. He's been asking to see a young pretty girl, Brit, isn't it?"

"Brit?" She asked quickly.

"Yes, a girl called Brit." Jenny could not help the horrible resemblance between Brit and Brat – Sheldon chose Brit the Brat over HER? When did this happen? She said nothing, fighting with her robotic conscience.

Brit jumped and ran into the room. "Sheldon! Are you alright? Will you be alright? Why the dog? Why the -." Sheldon wasn't listening. He didn't want to. He was once again fixated on the nothingness that haunted the glass window – and in the corner of the window sat the reflection of his love. Yeah, he loved her. Maybe not so much Jenny anymore… Jenny wasn't what he had hoped she would be. He drifted into a memory from long ago – the day Jenny and Sheldon had first met.

"OH MOM! Thank jobs it's you! Who needs saving! Anything! I'll do anything!" Jenny was crying into a camera that held Nora Wakeman's message.

"It's the – oh what's this?" Nora stopped short to inspect me. She made sure everything was in ship-shape. I was so happy when she approved! I felt excepted. I felt like I belonged to something – or someone… even though Jenny was my first love, right? OK, maybe it was more of a Romeo and Juliet love. The fact of being in love with the thought of love, I wasn't truly falling for XJ-9.

"No, no! What is it!" I could tell she did not want to spend another minute with me. I smiled stupidly.

"It's just the lonely hearts club-gang. Nothing big. In fact if you have other plans…"

"Good Bye, Mother." The words were spat so harshly, I felt insulted. Should I have been?

"Well, I gotta go, something WAAAAY over there; crime in progress, that kind of thing." She burst through the roof of the school and left me standing there – alone – just like she never had seen me.

"Wow!" I said aloud, stupid in my romance as a piece of the ceiling slammed into my skull."What a girl!"

What I that big of a MORON? Or is it just me?

Brit hadn't done that. She had helped him – that's how they had met. She deserved to know what was wrong, and he knew that. He turned to face her. Scared. Mortified. Embarrassed.

"Brit, can I tell you something… something really, really secret?" He looked like he was pleading – no – begging for some sort of understanding. She nodded. Tears wanted to spring from his eyes. Did he want the pity? Did he want her to feel sorry for him? "Brit, please…" Brit hesitated, than walked closer; her eyes flickering to Sheldon's grandmother who sat at the other end of the bed. "Of course Sheldon, what is it?" That didn't sound right. That was the old Brit – snappy, manipulative, sexy – all in one. "I'm sorry," she began again.

"Grandma, can you please leave? Please?" His grandmother gave Brit a skeptical look and left the room as fast as she could. Her stout figure wobbling across the room, her white hair turning fuzzy as she walked further away, it seemed as if she already knew what was coming. Brit turned to face Sheldon, hoping for the best.

"Brit, I can't go to the dance." He sounded sober and foreign...

"-What? Why?" Brit was in disbelief.

"Brit, I can't! I just can't! See the dog? DO YOU ACTUALLY **SEE** THE DOG?" He sounded like Sheldon here, the old Sheldon – helpless – when did Sheldon get so fragile?

Brit looked down at the dog, it was a golden retriever who sat right next to Sheldon's bed, waging his tail happily. "I have to go a seminar thing to learn how to get along with him," Sheldon said 'as-a-matter-of-factly'. "I don't understand, you can bring the dog along, or maybe we can just go somewhere else. Dinner, maybe?" She was trying so hard to make ends meet. "Just tell me why, that' all." She reached out, brushing his shining sweaty hair out of his eyes. He was going to need a shower when they got home.

"I CAN'T!" When did Sheldon get so hurt?

"Honestly, Sheldon." She pulled back now, returning into a disappointed position. "There must be something. Why can't you tell me? We're going out remember?" Yeah right, like she was going to start to look trust worthy now. After she said her turn, there was an awkward silence. She hesitantly sat back down into the chair. Hoping that maybe he would give in and tell her why he couldn't say anything – why there wasn't an explanation – she waited. And waited. When did Sheldon become so independent? So broken?

"Please…" only a tiny whisper behind the broken glass that lay in bed in the form of a human. When did it all start? When did it happen?

"Sheldon," she began cautiously, "I'll be here, when you need me." Now that got his attention. He turned his head and looked strait into Brit's eyes. Brit, shocked, could only stare back. Her eyes locked on the brown eyes, giving a shine that lit the room much too bright. Breathless, she waited for him to look away – to give her back her freedom. Brit continued to sit in the awkward space where the air seemed to still and the light seemed limited. The quiet lasted so long. So long, lasted that silence that drove Brit crazed.

"I like you," a small whisper came from the bed, traveling into Brit's strained ear.

Brit's eyes could only widen, she couldn't believe it. Had he just said the words she had been hoping she could hear him say? Was this a joke? "Sheldon," she began, but was stopped by Sheldon's hand. A smile was curved on the boy's face – cheerful and full of life. How could one be so dull one moment and teeming with life in the next? He continued to let his hand travel to her, he cupped her face and let himself feel the cool-warmth of her skin, the silky-roughness, the lights filled with darks.

The touch startled her, she gasped, jumping in her seat. "Nah, I said like, not love. Don't get all giddy on me." Brit smiled at Sheldon's corrections – that was the old Sheldon alright. She lifted a warm hand to feel the cold one that cupped her cheek. "I like you, too." Her lips curved upwards – it wasn't a smile, though. She couldn't smile right now, not now. "Brit," his voice sounded happy – she looked up to meet his gaze and found herself caught in the hypnotic beauty of his eyes.

"Yes," she answered.

"What if I were to tell you that I'm handicapped?" He sure sounded as if he were making a joke of something.

"I don't know. I guess I'd _have_ to take care of you then – see?" She smiled into Sheldon's palm, kissing it with most care.

"What if I were to tell you that I might have to make trips to the hospital – lots of times? Like, if things got really bad and you could handle it kind of things…"

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong with you?" Brit was confident already.

"I have SARS, the dog is gonna track how many people I infect," he looked damn serious. Brit moved away slightly. Sheldon burst into tears of laughter.

He could not be serious any longer with the 'SARS news'. Of course, **it was a joke**, but Brit didn't know that. "Well, Sheldon-dear, that was not very kind of you." Brit's polite-nasty self was creeping back, but Sheldon did not take notice. "Sorry." Sheldon tried to lighten the situation. "Well, let's say we are going to this 'dance', what are you going to wear?" Brit smiled, if anything, she loved talking about clothes. "That would be for me to know and you to find out." She smiled and took his hand into hers, examining it with care. After a 'thorough check-up' she looked up at him with a playful tune in her eyes.

"I don't want to wait. Why can't you tell me now?"

"No, where would the fun be in that?"

"Actually seeing it…" A smile plastered Sheldon's face.

"Where would the fun be, if I had to wait to know what's wrong with you, eh?"

His face grew cold. "Well, if you put it that way I guess we shouldn't even be 'going out' because otherwise you'd be crushed. I wouldn't wan to hurt you." Brit couldn't tell whether Sheldon was teasing, or trying to help. "Hurt," Brit asked sincerely, "you won't hurt me." But Sheldon was shaking his head. "Did you know that I used to write – before I took to technological advancement?" Brit shook her head no.

"What did you write about?" Brit asked, she wasn't curious, just thought that he probably had something he wanted to get off his chest.

"I used to do very well in English – not that I don't now – but I used to write so well, so nicely, my stories took people to other worlds, other times. My classmates would ask for sequels and things like that. I can't tell you how wonderful it was being up on top." Brit's eyes widened, _Sheldon Lee was a burnout?!_

"So why did you stop? You could have been a great writer?" But Sheldon was shaking his head very slowly, trying to keep back something he was letting loose. "No, I couldn't have been. Middle School was one thing. High School is another. " He paused. "I was never able to recreate anything I had begun." Brit leaned in, noticing Sheldon's shivering body. "Would you like another sheet?" She whispered close to his ear, but he shook his head lightly and scolded her for caring too much. "Well, what happened? How come you didn't continue?"

"I guess…I guess…would you like to hear a story, Brit?" Brit sat in stationary, then nodded quickly, wanting to catch up with the conversation. Sheldon wasn't smiling as he nodded back.

"Once upon a time, there was a boy. He was around – What year is it? 2007? Has it been that long? – He was around 10 years old. He had a mom and a dad, and was very happy. His parents were so nice. The mom was a technical genius! She came up with so many cool contraptions, but the boy's father was very mean. He joked about everything the boy was and who he could be. The mom encouraged everything the boy wanted to do, so when the boy started writing she was thrilled. But the dad was very nasty. He – he told the boy he had everything WRONG. That everything the boy was doing was BAD. 'Writing,' he said with a tint of ice in his voice, 'a good way to waste time. You are going to be raised for what I do, for what is important.'

But the boy didn't like business and all that junk; he wanted to write stories, or be like his mother and create cool things. So, for 2 years he put up with his family and the different views they gave him. Until one sunny day the boy and his mom were driving down the road. It was a highway that led to downtown. People were driving faster than they should have been. Can you believe how fast those people were going? 80 miles per hour where the limit was 40! I swear getting into Chicago can be a deathtrap if you don't you your way around. Well, we didn't know our way around. A person went to turn into our lane and crashed into the back of our car – the car. I said the car. This has nothing to do with me." He looked confused. "Uh, the car, it – the car… The car swerved around and crashed back into the other car. It was so scary the boy cried out, but his cries were covered by the loud screeching sound of the cars bumping together. I – he – they – she…I don't really know what happened. But then the boy was in the hospital. He wanted – so bad – to see his mo-." Sheldon began to let tears flow down his eyes. They couldn't be stopped as they stained the sides of his cheeks. "He wanted to see his mom so bad, but they said she was sleeping. She would be asleep for a very, very long time. Then they told the boy that there was something wrong with him. Something was very, very wrong with his head, and the need to talk to the boy's father. But he was gone. He left forever. He wanted nothing to do with me – him. So that's when the boy's grandmother came in. She took care of him and helped him clean up after the messes he made. He didn't mean to make them, but he didn't know what else he could do."

"Sheldon," Brit interrupted.

"He just wanted to be good. And soon everything went away, it went away for the longest time. Everything seemed to go back to normal."

"Sheldon…" Her voice was distant and couldn't reach his foreign ears.

"Until -" He stopped. "It came back again, and he didn't know why…" Brit was narrowing her eyes. Was he ever going to listen?

"Are you epileptic, Sheldon?" Sheldon looked up at his girlfriend. "No." Brit let go of his hands and put hers around his face, holding his gaze to hers. "It's going to be alright. Sheldon, it will be alright." She then leaned down and captured his lips with hers. "Would you like to just continue your story," she asked.

"Yes. So the boy was upset because of this new disability he had. He didn't know what to do about it. Until it stopped three years later, around the time High School started. So they decided to take the dog away and keep the dog as a pet. Until this boy met a girl who was made completely of metal. A robot girl, he thought she was the most beautiful and wonderful thing that had ever happened to him…" Brit gridded her teeth in jealously at the new twist Sheldon's story took. For the rest of the story, she adjusted her gaze towards the window, watching the clouds move across the sky. Watching as time passed, watching as he continued on with the 'story', watching as the little boy in the bed wore away little to nothing. Watching, watching, watching…the clouds never stopped.

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry, there was a lot of talking in this one. Not a lot of detail, which is more my thing. And yes, Sheldon has gotton himself into quite a pickle. A big pickle.

Sheldon and the Giant Pickle! XD Anyways, things are going to get better. Maybe. Maybe they'll get worse. OH MY! I really am just winging this in my free time so don't expect much from me. R+R or I'll haunt you in your sleep. GASP!


	9. Monday: A Good Day

Pre-Author's Note: 2 weeks and 4 days left until school dance

Chapter 9: **M****onday: A good day.**

The thought of going back to school at the moment, was completely out of the question. Sheldon Lee didn't like the fact that there was…that _thing_…sitting next to him, once again, coming out of retirement to be by Sheldon's side.

The school would never allow service dogs, right? Yes, yes. Maybe he would have to be homeschooled. The thought pleased him very much. He wouldn't mind teaching himself all the important information that he would be learning if he went to school. He hated school anyways, that was where all the problems were. So he sat there in his little fantasy that he was studying at home getting ready for collage.

He continued to dream as his grandmother walked back into the room and sat next to him – Brit had left long ago in tears that the 'date' was off and there would be no dance for both of them to go to.

"I just can't, Brit," he realized how dry and somber his voice sounded. "Please, just understand." He raised a hand to tough the rough, soft cheek of hers.

She batted him away.

"Well why can't we make it work?"

"I don't know."

"YOU DON'T KNOW?!" It wasn't screamed, but it definitely was said with a raised tone. She had stood up and her arms were wailing at her sides, her palms spread out.

"I just – why can't you understand? Just tell everybody that I got mono or something…they'll stay away from weeks…" That wasn't true; he wanted to go so badly. He didn't want them to keep away from him; he needed the company badly.

"Well, do you know what I think, Sheldon Lee?" A sneer clear in her voice, Brit leaned in closer. The boy in the bed stiffened. "I think you need to think this over – you can't just back out of something without a REAL answer."

"I'm in the hospital! DAMN IT!" He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away, sitting up in bed, he watched as she stumbled backwards.

"I should be in school tomorrow – if they decide to allow service dogs, that is."

"They will – if they don't now, they will." She gave him one last look – longing. Then she looked down at the tiles of the floor. One, two, three, four, five…

"You're a nice friend, Brit." She looked up. "I don't want you to hate me for not going with you to the dance. You're nice," he looked outside the doors to see Jenny and Brad getting ready to go, "a real friend."

"That's it?" Sheldon looked back at her startled. He couldn't tell how she sounded, sad or angry, it bothered him. Hadn't he just complimented her?

"So, I only get to be your friend?" She turned to face Sheldon, done counting the tiles, and wore her famous crooked smile. Sheldon still was frazzled as she walked back over to the bed. She turned and sat on the edge, close to him. "Can't I be a little more?" Sheldon's face lit up. "YOU MEAN A BEST FRIEND?!" He seemed delighted as Brit smiled back. Her smile faded as she stepped back and saw the situation before her.

Here was a teenage boy, only around the age of 16, who had epilepsy and was completely overjoyed to have _one_ friend. His eyes twinkled; she had never seen him this happy before. The stars in his eyes danced and shone brightly; they lit his smile which was spread from ear to ear. The moon would have been jealous of the eerie beauty his face shone. She lifted a heavy hand and tried to place it on his – it was too heavy. She dropped the thought and looked back up to the now curious gaze that took over Sheldon's face. He seemed to get the memo and picked her hand up for her and made sure it was safe in his own hands. "Yeah, Sheldon. Best Friends." Tears welded in her eyes. A nurse came in with his fees and other stuffs Sheldon could care less about.

"Alright, it's time to go." Sheldon patted her hand while he asked Brit to leave bluntly.

His grandmother filled out the forms and watched as Sheldon lie in the bed watching the nothingness of the window. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

"It's time to go, honey," she asked suddenly. He hated when she called him honey, it drove him nuts. But after the years he had learned to stop trying to stop her and just let it go.

"Alrighty," Sheldon hopped out of bed, and began to walk out the door – the dog following close behind.

MONDAY

It wasn't a surprise that Jenny didn't like Sheldon too much. After all, who could even bring up the thought of loving someone, or something, as mutant as him? He always covered himself up with his hoody and baggy pants, his uncombed hair left a wild beast on his head, and – Wah?! – were those pimples?! Yeah, Sheldon was definitely placed at the bottom of the food chain when it came to the school social latter. That's how the game is played.

And this is where our story begins, a somewhat average summer's day that started off with the birds chirping. The sun shone brightly in the trees and the crickets had ceased their noise. The grass was a true green and the sky, a true blue. And walking down the sidewalk was no one other than Sheldon. Today was going to be the same as yesterday and tomorrow.

He was going to go to his locker and pull out the useless books for the useless classes, Brit was going to talk with her friends about the dance that was well underway, and Jenny was going to be talking with her new boyfriend – Brad.

Tears welt in Sheldon's eyes; why couldn't the school exclude service dogs from school. Then he wouldn't have to go to this school and see all the people that had unknowingly – or knowingly – hurt him. And now he was going to school – for the rest of his life, also – with this… this, this dog!

_Oh yeah, Sheldon! Why don't you just carry around a neon sign__ saying "LOOK AT ME!"__? Everyone is bound to __notice your second shadow, here_ Sheldon looked down at the dog with all the hatred he could muster up.

Couldn't he just blame it on the dog? Nah, but he needed to shove the blame for his life on someone, right? Otherwise all the pressure would be weighing down his shoulders. A heavy rock pounding at his heart - waiting for the day when he gives up the will - will pound it sensless.

He entered the school through the front doors.

The dog scampered behind him – the two were inseparable. The dog's golden coat shone every now and then as they passed by windows and the glitter of the dog's fur brightened the hallways. He felt as though he were out of place. As if he were wearing a dress to school would be more subtle… _Great, let's all whisper behind Sheldon Lee's back. 'Oh my Good Golly Gosh, why does Sheldon have a dog in school?! Let's all talk about it for hours over the phone tonight. Better yet, let's talk about it during class. It's alright, he won't hear us…'_

Sheldon's thoughts were getting the better of him. He noticed that his hands were strained in fists, and that they were turning red from the pressure. He heard a tiny noise coming from off to the side. It wasn't a giggle, nor a snicker, nor a gossiping girl or guy, nor was it a big bully of a guy who wanted to fist Sheldon's head into a locker. Boy, he would have taken any of those other options rather than what he was faced with right then and there.

"Sheldon, I'm so sorry."

Jenny.

He couldn't help it. He still saw the true beauty of her. The slick shine of her metal outer coating, the overpowering blue that highlighted her best features, her eyes which shone brightly when the lighting was just right… he still couldn't see anything else but the beautiful girl he had first seen. A certain someone flickered in his mind, but he ignored it due to the fact that the lighting – was just right. He smiled.

_Like a big dummy, I'm smiling. I'M SMILING! SHE RUINED MY LIFE AND HERE I AM _SMILING_ AT HER!_

The dog growled, obviously something was wrong. "No worries, Jenny! As I always say -" he stopped. Wait – he usually never has anything to say in situations like this. He's never been in a situation like this. Huh. What d'ya do know?

"Uh, sorry, Jenny, I need to get to class." Yeah, nice lie. Class starts in 15 minutes and your standing right next it's door. He felt so stupid. He ran. He ran towards his locker and never left it until the bell rang and it was time for class.

He heard them…the other teens…they were talking.

"What's up with the dog?" asked a dark skinned nerd to her boyfriend.

"I dunno. I heard it's a police dog doing some sort of investigation -" the guy didn't even have time to finish. Sheldon stood up right in the middle of class.

"Are you all kidding me?! I come to school with a service dog and the first thing you guys pop into your heads is that I'M A SUSPECT FOR SOME DUMB CRIME?! GET A LIFE!" His arms wailed about somehow, he suddenly found the situation pretty funny. He chuckled, "Now what are you gonna start talking about? 'Oh, my goodness Sheldon talked out during class! Let's talk about hat AND his dumb dog now.'"

Almost on cue, the dog began to tug at Sheldon's pant leg. "Dude, your dog's trying ta tell ya somethin'." What class was this? He looked up realizing that it was 6th period and Brit was in his Math class. Shit.

"I need to go to the nurse." Sheldon panicked.

"Yeah, I'll say," an anonymous person spoke out from behind him.

"Sheldon, I may have let this go to far, sit back down." The dog growled and tugged Sheldon harder, causing the teen to stumble.

"Did you get the memo?! When he starts to act up, there's something WRONG. I NEED to go to the nurse."

"SIT DOWN MR. LEE!"

He didn't need to be told twice. In a few second they all knew why it was so important that Sheldon needed nurse's assistance… The dig stood over Sheldon's body, that was going through another episode, with a human-like face that said, 'I told you so.'

Sheldon sat in the nurse's office once more, thankfully this time he wasn't in any actual physical pain. "Well, I guess we need to keep our temper down. Don't we now, honey?"

He looked up at the nurse with complete loathing. "I hate it here. I want to transfer." The nurse only smiled and continued writing down something – probably unimportant, or porn. Whatever kept nurse's busy in their freetime, that's what she was doing. "Well, Sheldon. Looks like you have yourself a service dog again."

"No, I just have a service dog." He was feeling defensive today.

"Says here you've had one before…"

"Nope."

"Alright then, do you have an extra pair of pants?" Sheldon didn't understand _what_ she was talking about. He looked down at the pair he was wearing and swore. "Aw, man."

He had gotten himself all worked up over nothing. What had caused the attack, he couldn't say. Sometimes they happened after he got all worked up, other times, after he was saddened, after he was beat up once he fell and had one – but those were so long ago that he barely remembered them. He did have a service dog before, this one, Captain. He loved Captain so much, but after the episodes stopped for a while, he decided to just keep the dog at home. Now that they started again, Captain would have to stay will Sheldon all the time, now.

"C'mere, Captain," Sheldon motioned for the dog who was right beside him. The dog only had to turn his head to be way to close to Sheldon. He bumped his dog right against Sheldon's. The boy chuckled as he dog began to lick him."Sorry, boy, I should have listened." The dog seemed to smile and began to get ready to lay down next to him. "Yeah," Sheldon finally replied to the nurse, "I have an extra pair in my locker. "You know, just in case something happens. Can you go get then so I can change?"

Sheldon began to walk down the hallways again. This time it was full of people, teeming with cacophony and havoc. Captain stayed very close to Sheldon's side, then he began to growl again.

_Highly unlikely to have two in a day,_ Sheldon thought. "Captain, the chances of having two seizures in one day are -" He began to calculate and explain his findings to a dog. How wonderful. Actually, someone found it funny. Sheldon turned towards the laughter.

"What's the matter Sheldon? Why do ya need a service dog? Is his whole purpose to be your friend? How awful, the poor thing." John.

"H-hey John. Greetings! How are you? I was just heading out the door. You know…I'm leaving!" He turned to go, but someone cut him short. A hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks. The dog snarled.

"You realize you haven't been doing your share, kid."_ Is he talking about doing his homework so that he won't beat me up? What kind of share is that?_

"Is that anyway to treat the crippled?" Sheldon asked too confidently, he had forgotten that not everyone is compassionate for the unfortunate. They laughed.

"So, yeah. What's the dumb dog for?" He reached to pet the dog, but being a service dog, Captain wasn't really allowed to be pet by anyone other than his owner. Otherwise he might get the scents mixed up, and Sheldon would be in trouble for not knowing when his next episode might occur. The dog growled deep within his throat, and then backed up against his owner. "What wrong with you Fido?" John came even closer, trying to intimidate the dog into submission.

"Leave him alone!" Sheldon bravely scolded. "He's a service dog! If you mess up his senses -"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, blah, blah, blah, Mr. Know-it-all!" Mitch was closing in on Sheldon and his Captain along with John.

"Leave him alone!" A voice came from the other end of the room. It was convincing and stern – the boys stopped in their tracks to turn to see the owner of the calling.

Sheldon had to try and look over John's shoulder to see who it was himself, but he already had a good idea by the way it was said…

He had always wanted this to happen. He always wanted to be saved by someone. He always wanted that feeling of being in someone else's safety – that he wasn't alone in the cold world, but not here, not now. He had always shown her that that was what he needed most. She took that security away from him, and now he was going to take away the sweet victory of helping someone from her. "Stay out of this, robot girl!" John yelled back. School was over – the halls were empty of witnesses.

He didn't know what he was doing. He didn't know what had made him even think about doing something so crazy… Sheldon pulled his leg back and whipped it forward as hard as he could, with as much force as he could muster up. "FUCK!" John fell to the floor, gripping the shin of his leg in pain. Tears actually began to swell in his eyes as Sheldon's widened. He did it. He actually did it – even if he was going to be beat up mercilessly the next day, it was all worth it. Just for this moment, he savored every minute of John's pain – hoping that he was getting the slightest taste of blood that Sheldon had had to endure everyday for so long.

"WHY YOU LITTLE," Mitch yelled as he was getting ready to pounce on Sheldon – but Sheldon wasn't there anymore. The doors to the front of the school made a tiny noise, as they opened and closed to the speed of light. It made a screech as it closed, a tiny eerie sound…almost like a scream. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

* * *

Author's Note:

Extra Credit to anyone who can find the repetition! Also, a little FYI; the super hero Sheldon loved before he met Jenny was named Captain Crush – hence the name Captain of his dog. Are there any questions as to why I just gave the poor guy epilepsy? Actually, sad to say, I haven't gotten any flames about poor Sheldon's ne problem. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? How can NONE of you guys see how horrible I am to these cartoon characters! What happened to the reviews? Certainly, you guys, I don't care if you 'flame' me. I was actually expecting it. But it would be oh so nice id you could review…NOW! Or I will haunt you in your sleep with gooseberries and ham.


	10. Tuesday's Community Service Project

Pre-Author's Note: 2 weeks and 3 days until school dance – read the author's not at the end…please. Important info that I don't want to bother you with now…

**Chapter 10:**** Tuesday's community service project**

Sheldon ran as far as he could – far away from the madness that seemed to be escalating at the moment… _Run, run, __**run**_ was all he could think to himself. He dashed down the streets as fast as he could. Not once did he look back.

…

"What?! Since when are you looking out for him again?" The bullies began to close in on Jenny as she continued her ranting…

"You leave him alone," she stated in an even voice. "Don't you ever try and harm him again or there will be BIG consequences." Her eyes narrowed and got ready to pounce.

"Yeah right, think about it. We take our chances everyday, and we could get suspended for the things we like to do to our little Sheldon. You on the other hand have no choice. Think about it. You would be stooping to our level. What do you think of that? You would be no better than the villain in this case. Just...think about it." Monica struck everyone with a moment of complete genius.

"Right, but I can still notify the head of the district what you are doing to a poor, innocent teen of our school," Jenny said stepping forward.

"Oh Jenny, our dear Sheldon is _**very f**__**ar**_ from being innocent…"

…

Sheldon ran until he collapsed on the bench in the town's park. His breathing was uneven and threatening to take him over in sleep. Captain joined Sheldon and sat down beside him next to the bench. A few children began to walk by – they noticed Sheldon's dog and began to approach with their hands outstretched ready to pet the 'silly puppy'. Captain immediately began to back off and moved so his head was under Sheldon's hand. "I'm sorry, but you cannot pet him." The children wailed at Sheldon's words, and refused to believe what he said. "Please, don't pet him. You can't do that." A mother came up from behind the children and began to scold them.

"I'm so very sorry, why can they not touch the dog…?" She was trying to be nice but was obviously annoyed that a simple teen could not allow other's to even touch his dog.

"He's a… he's a service dog." Sheldon looked up at the woman or approval.

"Huh. You're not blind." She said icily, and when Sheldon did not stick up for his disability she turned and walked off.

This was why he hated service dogs. People thought that only blind people (or people in wheelchairs, etc…) could have a service dog. But the value of a dog such as Captain varies quite greatly. Sheldon turned his head down in shame as he couldn't concentrate on the playful children any longer… that was something he never had…

That chuckle, he remembered it from somewhere. There were more of them now. Getting closer by the second, he heard waves of laughter as he drew his knees to his chin and sat in the most pitiful pose he hoped would make him disappear. "Well, well. Look-y here boys! It's lover-boy!"

_Could you put the sentence together in a more annoying way? _Sheldon thought as he looked up with a glare. It was the lonely-hearts-club-gang.

"Go away," he said evenly. The guys turned and sat around him on the bench – Captain cringed.

"Don't touch my dog, please." Sheldon corrected the midget leader who always seemed to be referred to as 'Boss'. He had his arm outstretched to pet the dog that seemed to be as low as the dirt, growling as if he were facing death itself.

"Aw, stooped to this level? You dating a dog?"

"Captain is a service dog, don't pet him." Sheldon spat out the words as if they were hard sticky nails that were finally being ripped from his throat after so many years. "If you pet him he'll get confused with the scents and -".

"You're not blind" he didn't sneer; he didn't even raise an eyebrow. The question would have set him off even if it was asked in the kindest of tones.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE BLIND TO HAVE A SERVICE DOG!!!" (He said it so loud it deserved a couple of extra exclamation points).

The lonely-hearts-club-gang went silent, and they starred at the now crying teenager who now looked no more than 6, crying in front of that crashed car that held his dying mother. The boy coiled up into a ball – no, when you're that thin it's more like crumpling up… Their leader slowly slid off the bench, and he tried not to make a sound. **Thump**. He then reached out – almost a fatherly touch – and held the boy's shoulder.

"No…just go… please." They barely heard the boy speak.

They were going to leave, but the larger oaf of the club stayed. His big red nose was becoming redder as he tried to comfort the boy into hushing his tears. The boss turned to try and coax him to leave with the rest of the gang, but he refused.

"Gah, Boss. We can't just leave him here – he's upset." He sounded as if he had a really bad cold. Sheldon tried to free himself from the hand that was trying rubbing his back in a comfort.

"No, please. Go away, I'M FINE!" But the gang already assumed the worst. Jenny. Goodness, was that all they could think about?! Hearts, love, heart-break, kissing – were they OCD or was it just him, maybe A.D.D. or A.D.H.D.? Sheldon just looked up at them in disbelief.

"YOU GUYS DON'T GET IT! I **HAVE** A **GIRLFRIEND**!" There were chuckles and giggles.

"Yeah…" they started, "but does that mean that robot girl is forgotten?" Sheldon looked at them with teary eyes, and them got up and walked away. Captain followed close behind. "Looks like someone is having trouble deciding with girl he likes more…" Sheldon turned around and narrowed his eyes at them; if looks could kill, the lonely gang would have exploded on the spot. The 'boss' only smiled. "…man, I would love to be in your position…" Sheldon covered his ears.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" He jumped on the boss and began to pound his fists into the midget's face. As soon as he began, he was stopped by the gang's largest and strongest member. He grabbed the boy and hoisted him into the air.

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ME! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE BULLIED EVERYDAY, TO NOT KNOW WHEN YOUR NEXT SEIZURE IS, TO BE HATED BY THE TOWN HERO AND YOU'RE NOT EVEN AN EVIL VILLIAN! WHAT THE #$ DO YOU KNOW ABOUT - " The one lonely member with glasses called out, "Hey, watch your language!" He sounded as if he had bees up his nose.

Sheldon almost seemed amused at the moment.

"I have had two seizures today and you are telling me to what my language?" Sheldon almost found it funny.

"Woah, boss! This guy's had two seizures?! Talk about a busy day." The largest member commented towards the rest of the group.

"Please put me down, now."

"But don't you want us to help you?"

…

"What do you mean he's not innocent? He didn't do anything wrong, he was never in your way, he hasn't caused any trouble! How could he possibly deserve what you are doing to him?"

"Tisk, tisk, Jenny. How could you not see? You don't see how you are hurting our dear friend?" Monica resumed her mind games, causing Jenny's wires to twist and turn in spiraling directions making her confused.

"Hurting? I am not hurting him! I'm helping him!"

"Are you?"

Jenny was silent. What did she mean by 'hurting'?

_"Jenny! I was wondering if you wanted to go to with me to the circus this weekend…" His timid face was welling up with red and his shoulders w__ere rising to gently kiss__ his cheeks._

_"Oh – uh – Sorry,__ Sheldon,__ I gotta go."_

_"Jenny, are you free tonight? Because I was wondering…"_

_"No."_

_"Jenny, I thought you said you were busy tonight."_

_"Can't you see that I am?" With that Jenny put her arm around Brad's shoulder and they walked down the sidewalk towards Brad's house._

"Sheldon!"

"Hey Jenny! What's up?!"

"I need you to leave me ALONE!"

_"Jenny?"_

_"WHAT?!"_

_"Why do you hate me so much?"_

Jenny snapped back from her replaying memories. Maybe she was hurting Sheldon – not physically, but emotionally.

"So, we're all hurting Sheldon – in our own ways." She concluded before Monica could start again. "And I do believe I need to set a meeting with the board of education tomorrow."

And with that Jenny was off to find Sheldon – someone who really needed her.

_Jenny? … Why do you hate me?_

_Why do you hate me?_

_Why? Why? Why?_

_Why won't you let me love you?!_

She could almost hear Sheldon crying, alone in his room, while trying to figure out a way to smile for the following day. She could track his heartbeat, track his breathing, track anything that would get her to find him. Because someone needed an apology and it was long overdue.

…

"…and that's how I got epileptic. It went away for a while – but now it came back. Now you guys can go wallow in self-pity somewhere else." Sheldon gave the most diabolical glare he could possibly give and almost burnt a hole right through the blue gang that sat before him.

"Woah. Why would we go wallow in our own self-pity when you need all the pity you can get?" The big lunk with the red nose asked.

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT PITY!"

He threw his arms into the air and tried to shoo them all away. He then realized their faces were wide with shock, he settled down and continued. "I never wanted pity, I just wanted someone to believe that I could do something great!." His eyes were red with tears and he stared up at all of them. "I want to do something great when I grow older because I feel so dependent right now…I don't want to be dependent on someone else. I wanna show the world that I'm more than just a geek-nerd." He chuckled at his last words. "…I want someone to be dependent on me for once."

"I don't pity you, but I would like to know why you cannot go with me to the dance…"

Hands tightly gripping her hips, Brit gave Sheldon a stern face as she slowly made her way over to the boy sitting on the bench.

"Brit?" He asked, not exactly knowing what to expect.

"I don't believe you Sheldon! Someone who can pass himself off as a robotic superhero can't take a girl to the dance because he's too scared?"

"Robotic superhero?" The boss asked.

"Noo! No, no, no, no, no! How the hell did you figure that out? Who told you?!" He stood up, his palms spread wide and his arms slightly lifting off his sides in a 'what-gives' position – only his eyes were double the size.

"I'm not stupid Sheldon. Do you think that it's not noticeable when every time the techno-geek runs off the Silver Shell ends up popping up right over the techie's house?" Folding her arms across her chest in victory, she lifted her head slightly so that her eyes would lid half way when she glanced down upon him.

"Oh-uh. So, does that mean everyone knows?" Sheldon was turning a bright red now.

He had so many different reasons for creating that hunk of shit he called a super-robot-costume. It had first been created to show Jenny how horrible other robots could be – and to hint to Jenny that Sheldon was the proper match. But it seemed that the robot girl preferred metal to skin and ended up having a crush on him. But… what broke Sheldon's heart the most was when he asked her at school to go to that reptile fest at some other high school… and she said no. THEN, not even half a day later having her beg him to go with her, while he was in his Silver Shell armor, Sheldon almost seized on the spot.

That stupid – STUPID piece of shit! That dumb robot! That Silver Shell was nothing but heart ache. And what exactly was he planning to accomplish by it? The dense robot girl would have to be told at one point or another…right? RIGHT? God, why did Brit have to bring up the worst subjects at the worst time? Ya know, as the author of this story, I was really hoping that they would make-out sooner or later! What a rip off, too bad I didn't plan this story out in advance.

"No, no one is as smart as me." A slight accent on the 'everyone' and the 'me' parts… she raised a hand and put it on her chest in a regal fashion.

"Except yours truly." Sheldon noted with a smirt. The lonely-hearts-club-gang were nothing but background character at the moment. Unimportant, undetectable, unwanted – unseen by the main characters under the ripe cherry-blossom tree, they smiled and sighed in awe as the scene played out.

"Hm. Well, you're an exception to the rule," leaning in closer to her boyfriends face she smiled lightly, "is the dance still off?" The slightest amount of begging was detected in her soft whispers.

"Uh…"_ God why did she have to make it so hard? _"I – I – I – I …" He could almost hear the gang's pleads.

Dude, you're blowing it!

JUST KISS HER ALREADY!

I wish Gabriel was that way. (How pathetic.)

It was a good thing Brit was so strong willed because she put a finger up to Sheldon's lips and hushed him. "Sh. Now what did you want to tell me?" So close…

"I…" Her breathe tickled his words, almost stopping him from finishing, "guess…" He wrapped his arms around her waist for the second time, "we could…" So close yet so far, "try." Their lips met and Sheldon let his eyes close. Nothing could ruin the moment…

…more than Jenny flying in right on the scene.

**AUTHER'S NOTE:**

Greetin's. I hope you guys were able to manage through this chapter. I know you guys probably won't like it as much as the rest BUT hey! It's my story!

C you guys on…let's c today's Tuesday so next chapter will have to be Wed…. C U ALL WEDNESDAY!!! ((hugs to those who read AND R&R))

_**SPOILERS:**_

Someone is going to die. FAQ: Yes I know who and when and why. But if I told you the whole story would make sense and you wouldn't want to read it! That's bad for publicity.

No Jenny will not go out with Sheldon…but not because she doesn't want to.

Why is Sheldon 'not innocent'? Huh…next chappie holds the key to the puzzle

How many chapters?

If I go day by day: 26-30.

If I shorten it: 20-26

Will I move the Ratin' up to 'M': No. Sorry everyone, no super fun times here at Deca-central. I'm keeping my conscience K-L-E-A-N. (mis-spell 4 reason.)


	11. Still hate Wednesdays

2 weeks and 2 days until school dance.

**Chapter 11: Wednesday – what goes around comes around.**

Brit was the only girl Sheldon could say he actually kissed. Sure, Jenny had given him a quick peck on the cheek after he had been the **only** one to believe in her that one Christmas, but it was much more satisfying to actually have a feeling of acceptance from another being. It almost made him feel – loved. The warm and inviting feeling drew the teen closer to the shorter girl – he couldn't help but press closer to his love. His arms grew strong and brought her body to his; one of his hands traveled up her back and rested on the frame of her shoulder. He felt his eyes get moist and tear; maybe it's not too late to pick up the shattered pieces and make a heart again.

"YOU BITCH!" Sheldon and Brit jumped as far as they could from each other.

Sheldon immediately missed the warmth Brit had given him – to look at Jenny standing there gawking at them both. The emotion that had held him for those few moments had kept him in such comfort, such bliss - something he had not had the honor of having in such a long time – was now replaced with a cold and heavy screw that drove into his chest and twisted his organs until they felt like soup.

"What are you _doing_? Have you officially become insane?! What is the matter with you? Don't you know who you were just swapping spit with?!" Jenny flew strait at Sheldon who was now scrambling to get up off the ground Jenny had pushed him onto.

"You stay away from my boyfriend, Jennifer. Why, did you really think Sheldon would give, give, give and get nothing in return? You should know by now, Jenny, that a relationship only works if both parties are willing to receive AND give," Brit snarled as she planted her hands on her hips, cocking them to one side as if she were a young mother.

Sheldon's eyes stayed locked on Jenny. He still loved her, and he knew that Brit was wrong. Both girls were a force to be reckoned with and he rather would have liked to be at home than have these two girls kill each other over someone like him. "Uh…how about we talk this over?" He offered shakily getting off the ground as he kept his eyes on both girls who were now starring him down. Captain growled at Jenny who was much too close to Sheldon's personal bubble. "Shut up, Sheldon! Do you know what I think? Do you? I HATE YOU!" Jenny roared. She watched the glitter in his eyes as the tears began to fall lightly. "Oh, stop cryin'! …STOP! Damnit Sheldon!" His breathe caught in his throat as he made a slight whine, trying to calm himself. Unable to take the boy who could not possibly begin to respond she found herself lost in rage. "SHUT UP DAMNIT! I HATE YOU!" Within seconds Sheldon was back and shoved into the ground. Jenny's hand was faster than anything Sheldon could react to and it walloped him again forcing him back down against the heated concrete.

He winced loudly and tried to crawl away as fast as he could. His eyes red, his knuckles busted, his head ached as it had been the last to greet the solid concrete; Sheldon huddled away next to the bench. "YOU BITCH!" Jenny turned to see Brit sprinting in her high heals towards her. With her superhuman reflects Jenny punched her in the stomach. "Ugghhnnmm…" Brit fell to the ground as Sheldon had and gripped her stomach tightly as if she were holding herself together. Then there was silence. No one talked. No one looked at anyone; just silence.

"You hate me?" Sheldon whispered.

"No, no, I don't hate you… no! That came out wrong! I didn't mean it!" Jenny promised immediately.

Sheldon didn't reply, and Brit stood silently studying the situation like she usually does. Study the sides of the situation and pick the one that had the best reinforcement. She could feel a dozen snappy remarks to cuff Jenny with, but glanced over at Sheldon's icy eyes that were dancing around Jenny's expression, trying to find a give away. "Look, Sheldon. You were just kissing – repeat KISSING – the bitchiest girl in school. Don't you think I'm going to be a little upset?"

"Watch your mouth, Jennifer!" Brit retorted.

"No," he replied; his face a still stone.

Jenny's eyes widened as Captain went to sit by his master. "What to do mean 'no'?" Jenny asked as her moods began to switch from sadness to shear anger. "What do you mean 'you're going to be upset'?" He countrered and then lifted himself lightly off the ground and began to dust his favorite hoody-sweater. After, he strolled over to attempt to pick Brit up from the mud. Her outfit – obviously ruined by the grass and mineral enriched soil – was covered and completely stained with the earth.

"I - " Why was Jenny so nervous?

Jenny snorted as she began to walk away. To her, it wasn't worth her time. She couldn't let herself think for a minute that it was. Because if she went down that road… who knew what it would do to her reputation…

"Oh. My. God," Brit overdramatically remarked, cupping her lip-glossed lips with a white gloved hand.

Everyone turned to look at Brit; she knew exactly what she was doing. "You love him don't you?" She let her mouth gap as she turned her head to face away from them and glance at the sky a moment. "You do know that_ he_ is going to the dance with _me_, right?" As her tone raised and she faced them again, she added, "He is my boyfriend, not yours X. J. 9." The words spat like nails rattling in a thin tin can. She turned to Sheldon once again… he had just dumped her in order to cover up his disorder… yet his eyes showed no anger in letting Brit brag that he belonged to her.

"Oh, since when did you 'claim' Sheldon? As far as I know, he doesn't even know what a date is!" Jenny snapped.

"Oh, you mean after you made the decision to dump him in the cafeteria? Nice move. Do you know what this boy goes through day in and day out?!"

"I just needed a break! He never leaves me alone!"

"So instead of telling him that you love him -"

"Shut Up!"

"-you tell him to get lost? You just want the satisfaction of having two guys lavishing you with affection. "

"SHUT UP!" Jenny stooped to Brit's level as she pulled one of Nora Wakeman's home-made guns on her.

"**DEAR **_**GOD**_!" Sheldon cried.

Tears welt up in his eyes again as they were wide as saucers; Captain growled. Sheldon spoke quietly as he wasn't used to the attention. "I just want everything to stop. Can't I just start over; is that wrong? I can't stand it anymore. I really felt like Brit cared – and honestly it felt like you didn't." Sheldon couldn't stop the raindrops from tickling his eyes, wetting the ground and his shirt. Jenny created an umbrella above her head to keep from rusting and let down her weapons; Brit stood silently as she waited for Sheldon to continue. The rain began to drench the couple and ruin the dark girl's curled hair which then began to unwind and become a stringy mess on her head. The wind blew brushing some of the strands in her face and the water helped them stick there. Sheldon's brown hoodie almost had the appearance of black at the damp affect of the rain and his hair flattened on his head covering his eyes completely and he was forced to raise a hand and brush the long bangs out of the way so he could see both girls. "I just want none of this. I don't want to go through with anything at the minute." Captain whimpered at Sheldon's feet and rested his head against Sheldon's right hip.

It was silent for a moment or two. No one spoke. Then they all deserted the scene as fast as one possibly could – all in opposite directions – with no turning back.

**WEDNESDAY**

"I thought you said that you hated Sheldon."

"Yeah, I hate the bastard. But look, he's so damn popular now that no one would even want to lay a hand on him!"

"That's not what it sounded like…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," He picked up his tray and threw what was left of its contents in the trash and began to walk over to the tray return.

Gears began to twist and turn… "No…! Were you there last night?! It was a misunderstanding, Goddamnit!" She said it so fast that I decided to combine it into one word.

"…"

"Were you there yesterday?!"

"I went for a walk with Tuck."

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough."

There was a slight pause and Jenny considered leaving the cafeteria altogether. "Can't we figure this out? Somehow? I told you that I didn't have anything for the nerd! I hate him! I DO! I HATE HIM! SO SO MUCH, BRAD!"

"You look at things too critically do you know that? You've been fighting villains so long that you've forgotten that the world isn't just black and white – there's grey too. Obviously you don't hate Sheldon… because he winds up in our conversations NO MATTER WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT!" **Riiiiiing**. Saved by the bell; thank God.

"Hey, Brit!" Sheldon called as he ran from the school's front doors to meet up with Brit – his girlfriend. His first girlfriend…

"Well, hello there Sheldon! Are you walking home today? Lots of work to get done?" She dismissed her friends who stayed anyway to watch her wrap her arms around Sheldon's weak form.

Ever since his experience at the hospital he had lost weight. It was only slightly noticeable as his clothes were only draping over his lanky form. "Sheldon, you on a diet? You look thin," a girl with orange hair commented. Sheldon shifted uncomfortably and wanted badly to avoid the question altogether. "No," he began, "I just am having some trouble getting my weight back. I've been losing ever since I left the hospital…" Brit's head was now gently resting on his frame, almost afraid to break him. "Were you this thin yesterday? And what about the day before?" She whispered in his ear, on her tip-toes.

"Can we talk about it when we get to my house?" He whispered back.

The walk towards Sheldon's ranch house was very quiet and solemn. "Now can we talk about it? Really, there's no one here but us." Brit asked. Sheldon hesitated a little and replied, "No." It was followed by another silence that kept Brit stiff. "You weren't this skinny when you entered the hospital, Sheldon. I'm only worried for your well-being. You can tell me anything, you know…" Brit clasped his hand tighter and tried to get him to look back at her as she stared directly into his unfocused eyes.

"It's nothing you need to worry about," Sheldon reassured in an anxious fashion.

"It looks like I should be worried. You look wasted -"

"I look drunk?" Sheldon teased her wording with a slight smile gracing his features yet not looking at her direction.

"No!" Brit shook in a giggle, "you just appear sickly… I'm worried. You look so pale and tired…" she raised a hand to touch his withered face, stopping them from walking any further.

"You lost so much weight in such little time… How are you going to fit into your tuxedo for the dance?!"

"I look sickly?" His eyebrows furrowed and showed deep concern as they both reached his house.

"Well, I mean… you just look a little under the weather today. Sorry, about that, my sweet Sheldon. How about we go out for supper? A nice, big meal… how does that sound?"

Sheldon showed disgust on his face, yet Brit didn't see it as she was already entering his home as he opened the door for her. "Yeah… sounds like it'll be fun."

"Please Brad, I've known you longer than anyone else. You're my best friend! I wanna be more than that!"

"You're not ready to be making any decisions until you can figure out who you want to be with. Me… or Sheldon," Brad objected.

Jenny was now full of hatred and it formed a foul mouth – "YOU BASTARD! I HATE HIM! I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM!

"I hate his clothes. I hate his hair. I hate his smell. I hate the way he waits up for me before and after school. I hate how he can't stick up for himself and has me pull the bullies off his back. I hate how he's such a wimp. I hate how he can't act normal. I hate his eyes. I hate his attitude. I hate his weak body that can't even lift a two pound weight. I hate everything about him! He's a mutant! He's disgusting! _I_ am worth eight times more than _he_ could ever hope to be and you know it!" Her eyes softened lightly as she leaned back a little in an 'I said some bad things' sort of way.

There was a silence for a few minutes as they stared at each other intensely.

"So, am I better than you because I can actually handle stress and being rejected? Sheldon and I both can handle rejection. We've had it many many many times before and we still try. You get rejected ONCE and you can't even get over it."

"I was rejected by the Silver Shell," Jenny pointed out.

"Really?" Brad answered, "I still believe that you were only rejected once…"

--

"OH MY GOD!" Brit screamed.

"What? – Jeez Brit where are you?" Sheldon ran around the house like a madman and found Brit holding the handle to the open door that lead to the garage.

"You. Are. The. Silver. Shell. You are the Silver Shell?" Her mouth gaped.

"What?! No… no! This is…just…… look I'm NOT the Silver Shell. He – uh – just comes here to charge up and go into sleep mode and stuff." He felt proud of his explanation, hoping Brit would take the bait.

"I think that that is a bunch of crap, my Sheldon." _Shit_.

"What were you going to do if Jenny found out it was you all along?"

"I really don't know." Sheldon replied honestly, "I… need to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

A couple minutes later Sheldon immerged from the rest room to find Brit waiting for him outside. "Uh – mmph!" Brit slammed their mouths together and parted his lips to let herself in to explore. She found a bitter taste that caused a shiver up her spine. Sheldon, not a stupid teen, tried to shove her away but her arms were tightly locked around his neck. "Shhhtooop!" He tried to order as she continued to explore unknown territory. She rolled her tongue along his and found the bitter flavor returning at full blast. It burned her tongue and forced her head to swoop back and ride herself of the awful taste.

"You've been throwing up." Brit whispered quietly.

Captain started barking loudly and ran towards Sheldon at full blast and began to tear at his jeans. "Sheldon? Please, answer me." Tears were now in her eyes, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing; it's none of your business" his hands gripped her shoulders and shoved her away.

"It pretty much is all my business Sheldon! I'm your girlfriend! I want to help Sheldon. None of this is healthy for you."

"I know."

"What are you going to do when we go to dinner?"

"I don't eat."

"You have to eat."

"You can leave if you want. I'm going in my room."

Sheldon, in his room, slammed the door and locked it. He then leaned against the door frame as his crumpled to the floor. "Sheldon Lee! You let me in there this instant!"

"No."

"Why won't you just let me help you? You're going to kill yourself!"

"Maybe I want to…"

"Sheldon, let me in before you do something stupid! Just get off your lazy ass and open the door so I can hug you!" She heard Sheldon real a strip of laughter – the door unlocked.

Brit wrapped her arms around Sheldon's frame. "So, how long?" She asked lightly and buried her head in his stick frame. "N-not long." She looked up at him, "How long is 'not long'?" He hesitated and turned them around so he could lean against the wall. He brought her head back down to his chest and put his chin on her head. He really didn't want to answer; he knew that if he did she probably wouldn't be interested in him any longer. They weren't even together as a couple for a day and he screwed up – great. "I can't remember," he answered, knowing that his reply would be rejected and she would pry the truth from him sooner or later. It followed by a strange silence that Brit took advantage of and squeezed her arms tighter around him. "It wasn't too long ago… when I got admitted in the hospital I kind of just…"

"Shhh…." Brit calmed him and the tears that were threatening to arise once more.

"Right after I got checked-out…" He finished.

"Why?" She whispered, gently, petting his hair and refusing to look him in the face.

"I really… I didn't feel heavy. Honestly I didn't. I was just so upset that I threw up. I… felt better. I always feel better after I do it. Then I started to feel full…" He trailed off.

"Sheldon. My sweet, sweet Sheldon, don't cry! Calm yourself – I promise not to tell anyone if you just start to eat more and stop," _I really should alert someone about his drastic change in behavior_.

Sheldon was silent. He was hungry, too. That tends to happen when you throw-up – you get hungry. "What about dinner?" Sheldon asked. Brit looked back up at him with a faltered smile. "Perhaps we should hold a table for two?"

Jenny sat at the edge of her bed thinking, critically. Why did she hate Sheldon? His looks? His voice? What was keeping her from going out with him? If it was his popularity – well – he surpassed her in that long ago.

Brad. He was her best friend – her amigo, ami, bud… and what other names Brad calls friendship is unknown… She had developed feelings for him as well. And the argument they had earlier upset her stomach bolt. Yet… then again…

"_Really?" Brad answered, "I still believe that you were only rejected once…"_

Only rejected once? Jenny stood and looked out her window. Rejected only once, huh…

Authors Note:

A lot of scene transitions in this one… I know… please forgive me. So now you see we have a love square. Brad-Jenny-Sheldon-Brit. Broken hearts never heal, loves. Thanks for reading this issue and forgive me for it taking so damn long! Lol. I hope I redeemed myself by writing a long chapter. ;

It is implied that Tuck told Brad about Sheldon having the Silver Shell costume. For those who are having trouble comprehending Sheldon's condition: He had a stroke that caused him to have a relapse in a condition of epilepsy.


	12. Host

**Disclaiming the obvious**.

[2 Weeks and 1 day until the school dance.]***

An… Acceptable Thursday

"Grandma? Brit and I are going out for a few hours! Do you need anything?"

"Where are you two going?"

"To 'Scapa'. It's the Italian restaurant that's downtown."

"Alright, just be back by 9:oo – and no fooling around…" Sheldon's grandmother continued on telling them to take things slow – go easy – don't rush anything – etc.. etc..

"We know grandma, we know. We won't be out late."

Though they meant to leave by 6:30, Sheldon and Brit didn't even get to leave the house until 7:15 because of a safety speech that was forced upon them. It was a good thing that the restaurant wasn't formal because Sheldon would have had one hell of a time looking for something upscale casual to wear. Brit, as usual, had found a nice red dress to accent her black eyes and put her hair in a bun while letting a few curly locks fall on either side of her face. Sheldon felt slightly ashamed that the only nice outfit he could muster up was a white dress shirt with the regular jeans – both slightly baggy. And, of course, Captain had to tag along too. Sheldon decided to give him a little bow-tie.

Sheldon took control of the situation, trying to act as a proper boyfriend, and; opened the car door for her, helped her in, closed the door so she was snug inside, and then took the wheel and drove them downtown to the restaurant. Nothing more to say other than; Sheldon and Brit shared a lovely evening together – with Captain, who had his dinner ordered by Sheldon - in a private booth. At the end of dinner, Sheldon pleaded with Brit to pay for the meal. Yet his request was denied and he left 'Scapa', not paying a dime.

"You should have let me pay. I would have done so – the boyfriend should always pay for the meal."

"Sheldon. I have plenty of money to spare. My cousin and I own a private jet for God's sake! I think I can pay for a dinner every once in a while." Brit responded, hugging Sheldon's right arm as they made their way back to his car.

"That's not a good reason. People will think that I am just in the relationship for the money!" Sheldon stopped in mid step – making Brit and Captain stop with him.

"That's not a good come-back either," Brit retorted with her lips curling upwards, "This is the first time I've paid for anything!"

"…Still…" Sheldon was definitely loosing this round – Captain felt Sheldon's uncertainty and raised his head to make Sheldon pet him.

"Do you think that we can go see _Twilight_ when it comes out?" Brit asked, hopefully.

"Do we really have to go see that?! Have you seen who's playing Edward? I would have never chosen that actor." Sheldon replied, "It's going to do the book no justice!" They continued towards the car…

"Yeah – but I'm curious to see what they did with it!" Sheldon should have known Brit wouldn't give up so easily, "And besides, it's my turn to choose where we go, remember?"

"Afterwards, can we go see a movie I want to go see?" Sheldon pleaded – _Twilight_ was not on his 'must-see' list.

"Hmm – which movie?" Brit put a finger to her lips as if in thought as she leaned against the hood to Sheldon's jet-black car.

"_Journey to the center of the Earth!_" Sheldon was beaming by now as he clasped his hands in joy.

Captain barked at the idea. _That's right, Captain gets to go to the movie theatre too,_ Brit thought. If Sheldon was going to go into an attack, Captain would have to be there to warn them. But then again, Sheldon hadn't had one for quite a while. "Maaaaaybe… I think I might need some encouragement, though." Poor Sheldon, the hopeless romantic of the two, could not give up a chance to give her a light kiss. He brushed his lips across her cheek and hoped for the best. "Horrible," Brit said. "I didn't get to feel any emotion in that at all!" She leaned on her left arm more, making her shoulder rise as the other lowered and her spaghetti strap slipped from her right shoulder.

Sheldon vacillated. He couldn't help it; he always did. _Maybe she'll put away. It's a joke. What if our relationship doesn't last much longer – or at all? Then I would just be making a fool of myself. THEN she'll be talking to her friends about me. What if I do something wrong and she gets mad?!..._ All would ride through his thoughts through every peck, every hug, and every moment of contact her had with Brit. It wasn't a bad feeling – it was only emotional block. "Stop hesitating!" Brit ordered, she would get angry if he took too long. He usually did.

Brit leaned back up again, raising her hands towards her lover's face. She cradled his head with her hands then cupped his chin tenderly – bringing him into a light, gentle kiss. She kissed him normally for a few moments until she brought her tongue to lick his bottom lip. Not being able to help her desire or more contact she pressed closer to the boy; not everyone participating wanted more contact…

"I – I – I'm sorry." Sheldon apologized.

He pulled away immediately. His eyes tried to avoid contact with hers at all costs… "It's alright." Brit responded cheerlessly – yet she endeavored not to appear offended as to make the other depressed as well. The awkward silence undoubtedly followed and caused slight tension between the two until Sheldon finally helped her into the car. He opened the car door while holding out a hand to assist her into the vehicle and began to drive Brit towards her mansion. The trip was just as the one towards the restaurant had been – except that it had started out in complete silence. The only thing that had their connection return was the overactive Captain running about in the cramped car.

"Captain! Get off Brit! Bad Captain!" Sheldon hollered as Brit laughed at his overreaction.

Their conversation grew as the drive continued and then died down as they neared Brit's residence. Sheldon got out of the car to walk Brit towards the door; the awkward silence returned.

"So, I will see you tomorrow at school?" Sheldon asked hopefully… and yet he looked so guilty.

"Yes, I'll see you tomorrow then! We can't go out after school tomorrow, though. I have exams in Chemistry on Friday. And -" Sheldon smiled.

"If we were to get together to study – nothing would get done." He finished for her.

They both gave out a small chuckle which Brit and Sheldon ended in a charming peck on the lips. After he made sure that she made it inside alright, Sheldon headed back and reentered his car to drive back home. Captain, lying down in the back seat, let out a low growl. The dog got up and sniffed Sheldon's face a bit, gave him a lick or two, and then back away to prepare himself to bark as loudly and as pompously as he could. "I guess I better get home quick then…" Sheldon thought out loud. He had to rush home before something he would regret happened. Captain barked the 10 minutes it took to get Sheldon home. As soon as Sheldon was able to open the door to his car and exit the vehicle, he collapsed onto the ground with a thud and a concerned barking dog ran up to the door to retrieve help.

THURSDAY

"Brad! Wait up!" Jenny cried out towards her best friend.

"I have to ask – what did you mean when you said that I was only rejected once?"

"I meant that you were only let down by one guy. Ever." Brad responded, lightly.

"But I was rejected by the Silver Shell _and_ Sheldon! That counts as two people! Well, one robot and one person – but still, two people!"

"Jenny -" Brad began, "- did you ever consider the fact that Sheldon has never been present the same time the Silver Shell has been? …And that Sheldon is 'best friends' with the Silver Shell? Come on! Even I noticed that!"

Jenny tried to make the connection. "Are you saying that Sheldon – Mr. Geek-Of-The-School – is the coolest, handsomest robot EVER?!"

"No – just implying it." Brad smiled.

"I don't believe you…" Jenny said lightly – yet she was in deep thought to harden her tone as she thought back…to…

"_How did someone like_ you _meet someone like _him_?"Jenny asked._

"_Oh – uh – um – he – uh… saved me! Yeah! Saved me from… drowning!" Sheldon replied hurriedly._

"_You're the best swimmer I know!" Brad replied, smiling._

"But why would Sheldon make a robot outer-shell to fight with me?"

"_OH YEAH! It was when I didn't know how to swim!"_

"_So this was a long time ago?" Jenny asked._

"_No.. NO! I had – uh – amnesia!"_

_Sheldon rambled for a few more minutes with Brad, Jenny honestly could not understand a word they were both saying… "IT WAS AN AMNESIA CONVENTION!"_

"_How about we just ask the Silver Shell himself? HEY SILVER SHELL!"_

"_OH GUYS! I gotta go!!!" Sheldon ran off in the opposite direction he was walking in…_

Jenny hadn't seen Sheldon the rest of the day – she had seen the Silver Shell. He brushed off his first meeting with Sheldon as well. _Could… that… mean…?_ "Why would Sheldon try to impress me with a robot that I think is another person when he _really_ wants my attention?! That makes no sense, Brad." Jenny snapped back.

"How would I know – ask him?" Brad suggested as he turned to go to class.

If Jenny had turned to go to class at that moment, she wouldn't have been able to turn to see Sheldon entering the building after them. Luckily for her, and unfortunately for Sheldon, Jenny caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye. "Sheldon!" Jenny cried, "Sheldon, wait a second! I have to talk to you!" Sheldon, as he came in with Captain, turned to see Jenny. "Hi Jenny!" Sheldon exclaimed, his usual stupid grin spread across and Jenny cringed.

"Hey Sheldon, I have a question to ask you." His expression turned dismal – Captain growled a bit and he had to whack the dog's ears a bit to calm him down.

"Ok, what do you need?" He asked.

"Are you – the Silver Shell?"

"Excuse me?!" Sheldon stuttered, that was one of the last things he had expected to hear from her.

"Brad told me that Tuck told him that he found out that you were the Silver Shell while we were talking on the sidewalk near school!" Jenny stated.

Sheldon took a moment. He was undone. How could he _possibly_ get out of this one? He laughed, "Jenny, it sounds like you're just on a telephone line. First hearing from Tuck, then from Brad… whatever was the real message probably got lost somewhere… And Tuck? Do you really think that you can trust whatever he says? How old is he anyways?! You know how little kids are in having adventures and making up stories… I think maybe this is one of those… misunderstandings."

"… Yeah… Maybe…" Jenny reconsidered her accusations.

"So – Yeah. I'll see you after class – er, school, then?" Sheldon asked.

"Uh, no sorry. I promised Brad that I would go with him to the Arcade along with a few other people…" She excused herself.

"Oh – Alright. Um, Brit and I are going to go and see _Twilight_ this weekend. Do you want to come along? You can bring Brad and – and the rest of the people Brit hangs around with are coming too… You can bring people along too if you want…" Sheldon stuttered.

"So, is Brit officially your 'girlfriend' now?" Jenny countered the question with one of her own.

"Um… uh…" _RIIING!_

The bell. Thank God. "I'll see you later Jenny!" Sheldon ran off to the Math hall, leaving Jenny wishing she had followed him to get the response to her question. Her rooted feet had her late for class – and gave her a detention slip.

Sheldon, as usual, met up with Brit after school. She, as usual, was in the center of a crowd of people along with her cousin Tiff. He waited patiently – awkwardly – at the outer rim of the group and tried not to attract any attention what-so-ever. Captain stayed right at his side as Sheldon began to tip on his toes and reel back on his heels a bit to keep his mind occupied. "Sheldon, my dear! What are you doing all the way over there?! Why don't you come over here and join us?" A voice that was more than familiar called to Sheldon.

Uh-oh. There were faces. Why were there so many faces turning his way? "I – I, uh… " _Oh God Brit! What have you done?! I can't… I can't go over there. I don't fit there. I don't belo –._ "Are you alright Sheldon? Captain seems upset." Sheldon followed Brit's question by looking down at Captain, who had been tugging on his hoody's sleeve for the past few minutes.

"Oh – yeah. Um, I better… get going... uh, bye?" Sheldon began to smile and wave awkwardly as he tried to make his escape.

Brit let him go. She wasn't dense like her cousin Tiff who said stridently, "Gawd! What's his problem?! You sure that's the guy you're going to the dance with, Brit?" The eyes that had been following Sheldon's escape route turned back towards Brit. Yet it didn't take Brit too long to respond to the new attention that was given to her. Of course she was used to the spotlight, so snippy replies always came naturally to her.

"His problem, dear _cousin_, is that he had a stroke, that gave him type 3 epilepsy, and now that dog needs to tail-gate him around to make sure that he survives the seizures he endures on a daily basis. And yes, that is the 'guy' I'm going to the dance with. Forgive me, my dear cousin, if I'm not going out with a 'guy' who obsesses over his leather shoes." (from the episode where Jenny goes out with Don and he cries over his shoes… direct reference) She turned her back on them slightly and waved her right hand in their direction as if excusing them and began to go off and join Sheldon to walk home from school.

Sheldon had stopped walking and had turned to see Brit's rebuttal, at which he was thoroughly embarrassed. He expected some of the others to fight back, but Brit grabbed his arm to direct him away from the oncoming traffic of the students leaving the building. "Why'd you do that?!" Sheldon asked, Brit couldn't understand – he sounded angry.

She turned to face him slightly and inquired, "Wh- what? Honestly, Sheldon, I was sticking up for you!" She let go of his arm with a certain force that indicated frustration.

"I don't want anyone to stick up for me!" Sheldon continued walking – yet he also made sure that Brit would continue following him to continue the conversation.

"You were leaving, Sheldon! You were going to let them say things about you! You were just going to let them walk all over you – ?"

Sheldon stayed silent and just sighed as he continued walking forward. He knew – he _really knew – _that Brit was right, but he just couldn't do it.

Brit turned her head slightly towards Sheldon with a stoic face and analyzed him for the first time in a while. His cheeks were sunken in and eyes were worn with sleepless nights. Clothes were tattered and seemed to be worn for the third time that week as they hung on his weak frame. He tried so hard to please everyone yet when it came to himself… it seemed that he was at the bottom of his own list.

Sheldon was a host. He had wanted to pay for her lunch, he had driven her to school, he had cooked her dinner for the past few nights, and he had offered to take her to her friend's to go shopping later... This was not all – Sheldon also lived alone with his grandmother who also needed chronic assistance. Brit had seen that from the past few nights she had spent at Sheldon's home doing homework. His grandmother no longer could stand without wobbling and could no longer go outside the house. Bedridden, she was forced to depend on the only other person in the home. Sheldon was just too busy caring for everyone else around him that he couldn't find anytime for himself anymore. Brit turned her head away – Sheldon put everyone else before him and in this, he '_wasn't important enough to defend_'. Brit remembered when Jenny had been taken over by that rich-brat-of-a-child a few Christmases ago…

She had bragged about how she knew Jenny was nothing more than a destructive machine – Sheldon had been her rival in this. He believed in Jenny, he made a fool of himself, and he didn't care if he wasn't rewarded in the end…

…and he wasn't.

He would wear himself down to please the person he loved, worshiped, and didn't worry that he was running himself ragged. Jenny didn't deserve Sheldon – he cared too much for her and she did not give anything in return for his efforts. Brit was used to being adored and praised – yet Sheldon didn't give her that in the beginning. This was what interested her. So loyal, so understanding, so willing to please; and yet she couldn't gain any of it. Something changed, she didn't know when or how, but something changed and he became her provider, her host…

Yet he still didn't give up Jenny, this much was clear. During the day, whenever Jenny needed something or some sort of assistance, Sheldon was always there just as he had been before – in addition to Brit and his grandmother.

"Tomorrow's Friday," Sheldon started. "Do you want to go see a movie or something? I thought that you really wanted to go see _Twilight_."

When Brit didn't answer, but continued to stare into him, he turned to catch her analyzing gaze. It must have spooked him because he jumped lightly in shock which snapped Brit out of her trance. "What are you doing?" He asked softly. Was something wrong with his voice? Was he going to be alright?

This game they were all playing was killing off a player – the only participant who really deserved to win in the first place.

**A/N**. I know I'm making a habit of this and I know people HATE Author's Notes BUT. I wanna say **thank you! **for the comments and reviews! I was so worried that I'd be that one story with 18 chapters and no reviews. But I AM REALLY SORRY that it took me soooo long to write this chapter… I got some of your messages (please don't hate me. D:)

**Review, Review, Review!!!**


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